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T O R T U L A BREVIROSTKTS.
Short-beaked Screw Moss.
Class a n d O u d e i i CRYPTOGAMIA MUSCI, Linn—N a t . O k d . MUSCI, Juss.
GENERIC c h a r a c t e r .
Seta terminalis. Peristomium simplex e dentibus 32 spiraliier tortis, ad basin
majus minusve in memhranam tubiformem unilis, vel liberis. Calyptra dimidiata.
Fruitstalk terminal. Peristome single, of 32 spirally twisted teeth, united
more or less at the base into a tubular membrane. Calyptra dimidiate.
s p e c i f i c c h a r a c t e r .
T o r t u r a b r e v i r o s t r i s ; caule brevissimo, foliis paucis, rotundo-ellipticis, obtii-
sissmis, concavis, enervibus, rigidis, marginibus involutis ; operculo conico,
vix rostellato, Ihecam ohlongam duplo breviore.
T. stem very short, leaves few, roundish-elliptical, very obtuse, concave,
nerveless, rigid, involute at the margin : lid conical, scarcely beaked,
h a lf the length of the oblong capsule.
T o r t u r a brevirostris. Hook. Grev. in Brewster’s Journ. o f Science, v. 1.
p. 289. t. 12.—Hook. 4 Tayl. Muse. Brit. ed. 2. p. 5. t. 2. (S u p p l.)—Arn.
Disp. Muse. p. 37.
B a r b u l a r i g i d a , Funck, Deutschl. Moose, t . 1 5 ,
H a d . On an old wall near Edinburgh. D a v id S t e u a b t , Esq.
Stem scarcely any. Leaves few, spre.ading, dark lurid green, rigid, rotun-
dato-elliptical, very obtuse, nerveless, involute at the margin. Fruit-
slalk half an inch in length or more, slender. Capsule reddish, oblong,
even, the lid conical, scarcely h a lf the length of the capsule. Peristome
red, short, twisted.
Mr D a w s o n T u r n e r , in his description of Tortula rigida,
in Muscologia Hibernica, observes, that the operculum
was “ in exemplaribus a Sw a r t z io missis conicum obtusius-
culum and Sir J a m e s E d w a r d S m i t h , in his Flora Britannica,
also mentions, “ Operculum in exemplaribus Suecicis,
ah amicissimo Professore S w a r t z io missis, quam in nostris
duplo brevius est.”