Var. y. pLuniosimi, N e e s , H s ch .
Submersed, slender, flaccid, elongated ; branches decurved, all
uniform and divergent, with long, lanceolato-subulate, soft leaves.
Perichaetia elongated with distant leaves.
S y n o n .— Sph. nispidatum var. plumosum, N e e s , H s c h . St . Bry. Germ. p . 24 ,
t . iv. f. 9 * . B r id . Bry. Univ. i. p . 1 5 . S c h im p . Torfm. p . 6 1 , p l. xvi. S ; Synops.
p . 6 7 6 , e t e d . 2 , p . 8 3 2 . Russow, Beitr. p . 60.
Sph. aispidatmn var. moUissimum, Russow, Beitr. p. 61 (a dense, yellowish form).
Sph. laxifolium var. serrulatum, S c h l ie p . in Verh. Z. B. Gesel. Wien, 1865,
p. 396 (a form with the margins of leaf serrulate).
H a b.— I n d e e p e r w ater, ra rely b e a rin g fruit.
Plants wholly submersed, elongated sometimes to a length o f
two feet, at others with the fascicles closely approximated and then
resembling a tuft o f confervæ ; the latter form has been found
near Todmorden by the late J. Nowell, and is Russow’s var.
mollissimtim.
Var. S. brevifolium, Lindb.
Stems firm, 5 -6 In. high, pale yellowish green; stem leaves
short, ovate, obtuse, with a few irregular teeth at apex ; cells
fibrillose in the apical part, the marginal cells v e ry narrow and
elongated. Branches in close-set fascicles, short, ascending and
divergent, arcuato-decurved from the middle, attenuated toward
the points ; the leaves subsecund when dry, spreading and imbricated
when moist, short, ovate, somewhat oblique and unequal-sided,
the apex truncate, 5-toothed.
Sy n o n .— curvifolium, H u n t , in H e rb . suo.
Sph. laricinum, S c h im p . Synops. ed. 2, p. 845 (the Loch Kandor specimens).
Sph. cuspidatum var. hrajifolium, L in d b . in lit. B r a it h w . Sphag. Brit. Exs. n. 53.
H a b.— D eep bogs.
England: Carrington Moss, Cheshire (Hunt). Scotland: Near Loch Kandor,
Aberdeenshire (Hunt).
T h is plant at first sight ve ry much resembles a pale form o f
Sph. laricinum, but a microscopic examination soon shows us that
it differs in structure from that species, and constitutes a ve ry
peculiar variety o f X. cuspidalum, having both the stem leaves and
branch leaves shorter than usual. T h e plant figured in Sullivant’s
leones Muse. Suppl. t. 2, as X. cuspidalum var. appears to stand
midway between the present plant and the normal form o f the
species.
Var. £. Torreyi ( S u l l iv . ) , B r a i th w .
Robust, in lax floating tufts, rigid, 8 -16 in. high, of a reddish
brown colour. Branches 4-5, attenuated, their leaves ve ry large,
elongato-lanceolate, tubulose and toothed at apex, the hyaline cells
with numerous minute pores. Stem leaves large, deltoid, without
fibres.
Sy n o n .— Sph. Torreyanum, Su l l iv . Mem. Amer. Acad. n. s. iv. p. 175 (1849);
Mosses of Un. St. p. 13, n. 16 (1856); Muse. Bor.-Amer. n. 9 (1856).
Sph. auriculatum, L e sq . in Mem. Calif. Ac. Sc. i. pt. i, p. 4 (1867). Su l l . L e s q .
Muse. Amer. Exsic. n. 23.
Sph. Mendocinum, S u l l . L e sq . Icon. Muse. Suppl. p. 12, t. 3 (1874).
Sph. cuspidatum var. S. Torreyi, B r a it h w . in M. Micr. Journ. Feb. 1875, P- 64.
H ab.— N. A m e r ic a : Ponds in pine barrens of New Jersey (Torrey) ; California,
in great bogs at 8000-9000 feet, near King’s River (Brewer) ; Swamps near Mendocino
City (Bolander).
Sect. I I .— H e m i t h e c a , Lindb.
Plants o f peculiar habit, somewhat resembling that o f Hypnum
sarmenlosum or slramineum, firm, slender, and elongated. Branches
lateral, solitary or sometimes in pairs, short, distant, slender, subclavate,
obtuse, arcuato-decurved. Lea ve s and perichætial bracts
alike, ovate-oblong, obtuse, with ve ry large chlorophyllose cells, and
densely annulate, non-porose hyaline cells. Capsule v e ry small,
after the fall o f the large operculum, hemispherical, wide-mouthed,
resembling that o f a
19. S p h a g n u m P y l a i e i , B r id e l .
P l . XXVIII.
D io ico u s ; stem simple, with a single layer of cuticular cells ;
branches solitary, or sometimes two or three together, slender,
uniform, deflexed. Stem leaves and branch leaves alike ; oblong-
ovate, v e ry concave, entire, o b tu s e ; chlorophyllose cells oval in
section, free both in front and back. Capsule immersed, on short
lateral branches, hemispherical when empty.
Sy n o n .— Pylaesii, B r id e l , Bryol. Univ. i. p. 749 (1826). Su l l iv a n t ,
Icon. Muse. p. 12, t. 6 (1864), et Suppl. p. 15, t. 6 (1875). A u s t in , Muse. Appal.
No. 23 (1870).
Sph. sedoides var. S u l l . L e s q x . Muse. Bor.-Amer. No. 4 ( 1 8 5 6 ) . S u l l .
Mosses of Un. St. p. 12 ( 1 8 5 6 ) .
Sph. cymbifolium, forma juvenilis, C. M ü l l . Synops. i. p. 92 (1849).
Dioicous; olive green, fuscous or blackish. Stem erect, slender,
undivided, 3-6 in. high, with a single layer o f small cuticular cells,
and a narrow reddish-brown peripheral layer.