The Anäreieaceie are entirely confined to granite or slate rocks and
boulders, and to mountains, stony regions, or the high latitudes of the arctic
and antarctic zones, and this no doubt accounts for the great uniformity in
their structure and habit. Th e pachydermous nature of their cells gives the
leaves an almost cartilaginous texture, and thus enables them to resist the
pelting storms which harass the elevated districts they inhabit, and produce
that debris of their tissues and of the adjacent rocks, which always more or
less infiltrates the tufts. This thickened cell tissue, combined with the dark
color, greatly obscures the definition of the nerve and cells under the
microscope, and a preparatory treatment with Liq. Sodas or Potasste will be
found of the greatest assistance in their examination ; by placing a moistened
branch in a few drops of the caustic alkali on a slide, heating it over a
spirit lamp, and then soaking well in clean water, the leaves become soft
and flaccid, and every cell clearly defined.
Th e family includes but a single genus of about 50 species, which may
be arranged in three sections.
1 . Euandresea. L i n d b . Marked by its distinct convolute perichEetium,
and deeply 4-fid capsule.
2. Chasmoealyx. L i n d b . Without any evident perichastium, and deeply
4-8 valved c ap su le ; includes only A . nivalis H ook, and australis
F . Muell.
3. Acrosohisma. Hook. W ils. Having the capsule cleft only at the
upper end into 4-8 valves ; comprising A . Wilsoni Hook, and densi-
folia M i t t .
Th e greatest number of species is found in the islands o f the antarctic
regions, but a fair proportion is also met with on the elevated mountains of
South America, while Northern India and Australia also possess certain
endemic forms ; in Europe the Scandinavian peninsula is the head-quarters
of the family.
Several minute branched lichens Eplieie puiesceus, Leptogium muscicola, &c.,
occasionally infest the leaves, but in the S. American A . arachnoidea C. M ü ll;
the leaves are overrun with minute filaments, truly produced by the plant
itself. For an exhaustive account of the development and structure of these
plants, we may refer to the admirable paper of Kühn “ Entwichelungsgeschichte
der Andreieaceen ” (Leipzic, 1870), and an equally valuable one by Berggren
“ Studier öfver Mossornas hyggnad oeh utveekling" in Act. univ. Lund. IV. n. 12
(1867); both of which are illustrated by excellent plates.
A N D R EH iA . E h r h a r t .
Hannov. Mag. 1778, lo i Stück, p. 1601; et Beitr. i. pp. 15 et 180 (1787).
Ac rocarp ou s mosses o f a reddish, brown or b la ck color, growing in
small dense fragile tufts. Capsu le sessile on the elongated vaginula,
splitting into 4— ra rely 6 or 8— valv es, united at base and apex.
C a lyp tra thin, adherent, mitriform, torn irregularly.
Dillenius was the first author who recognized any species of the present
genus, and he described and figured two in his Historia Muscorum, under
the names “ Lichemstrum alpintm atrorubens teres, calycibus sqttamosis ” (A, alpina),
LmnEeus also ha P „pestris, but he evidently
and placed under in his herbarium belong as
had no correct idea and the latter to A . obovata Thed.
"®“ t L i ™ was fir’s f e s L l is h e d by Ehrhart in honor of his friend
I G R Andreie, an apothecary of Hanover, and his excellen character of
L t a n d s as follows: “ Perichaetium squamosum; squamee lanceolatae, cannatse,
imbricate Anthophorum longitudine perichaetii. Calyptra conica brevissima.
sTylopodimn nullum. Conioecium oblongum, subtetragonum, 4 sulcatum
Apophysis turbinata. Valvulae 4 carinatae, angulares basi apophysi apicibus
c o n Z n L r io adnatae. Suturae laterales ex medio sursum deorsumque
v e rL s dehiscentes. Conjunctorium obtusiusculum. Dissepimentum nullum.
Stvliscus cylindricus. Sporae subtilissimae. , - ■ ^ .
Ehrhart knew only one s p e c i e s A . Petrophila, and confusion at once crept
in, for this was universally regarded as identical with our A. aip>ua, due no
doubt to the curious fact, that this common British species is almost entirely
absent from the continent of Europe; then Hedwig defined the 4 valves of
the capsule as peristomial teeth united to a persistent operculum, and the
confusion was complete when he and Mohr made A. petrophila E h rh . into two
species, A. alpina and npestris, which they considered to be synonymous with
those of Dillenius, and in this error were followed by nearly all subsequent
writers down to our own day, until Thedenius cleared matters up in his
classical p ape r,“ Ohservatimes de enervibus Scandinavia: speciebus ge:teris Andreaa,”
and Schimper finally settled the genus in his exquisite monograph in the last
part of the Bryologia Europoea. It may be noted that the British authors
who possessed the true A . alpina still retained the name npestris for A . petrophila
E h rh ., which had been given to that form of it with secund leaves, the
var. homomalla.
Th a t Mohr, however, was not altogether satisfied with his determination
is evident from what he says under A . npestris, Hedw. ? (Bot.
Taschenb, p. 384) as follows “ It is not to be denied that the leaves of
A . alpina and npestris do not differ, except that in the latter the apex of the leaf
is laterally curved, from which the leaves become remarkably homomallous.
Hedwig incorrectly ascribes to A . alpina, leaves smooth at bach; to A . npestris,
leaves muricate or papillose at bach; both are truly very lightly papillose at
back under a high power.” Bridel was evidently of opinion that they were
not distinct, for he states that he considers these forms so similar that they
can with difficulty be regarded as proper species. It is also clear that
Hedwig had specimens of the true A . alpina, but failed to distinguish them,
for that species has smooth cells, but A . petrophila has them distinctly and
coarsely papillose. With respect to this important character of smoothness
or papillosity of the cell walls, it may be well to refer to a paper by
Schliephacke, “ Ueber das genus Andreaa," in Verhandl. Zool. Bot. Ge^sells.
Wien XV ., p. 423 (1865), where these characters are contrasted, both in the
natural state and after treatment with caustic alkali.
The other European Andreaas not found in Britain are, A . papillosa
L in d b ., an excellent species from Spitzbergen and Mt. Tjidtjak, in Lapland;
A. obovata Th ed ., A . Hartmani T h ed ., and A . Blyttii Schimp., all three