T o r t u l a c e z e .I 246 [Mollia.
S'
I
• 1
' i f ’ i ■.
Im . p
elliptic or subcylindric, fuscous, lid conico-rostrate, te e th o f per. pale
yellow, short, unequal and variable, papillose. Male plant smaller,
bra cts ovato-acuminate, laxly areolate at base.
Hab.— C alcareous rocks, especially on the coast. Fr. 4— 6.
Ormeshead and Carrig Onnen and Tros-y-Marian, Anglesey {Wilson 1828) ! ! Gap of
Dunloe [Wilson 1829) ! ! Near Bantry [Miss Hutchins i8og) ! Dunkerron, Kerry and
Kenmare [Taylor 1833). Aber [Hunt 1865) ! ! Milnthorpe [Barnes 1868) ! ! Bangor
[Wilson 1856) ! Leigh woods, Bristol [Wilson i860) ! ! Cliffs at Newhaven {Hemmings
1855) ! Gordale [Nowell 1854) ! ! Minehead, Somerset [Miss Gifford 1868) 1 !
Elburton and Knighton, Plymouth [Holmes 1871) ! ! Loch Ness (Hunt) ! Dolgelly
[Tetlow 1880) ! ! Ingleton [West 1882) ! ! Spanish head and Douglas, I. of Man
[Holt 1884) ! ! Dovedale [Wilson 1867) ! Penzance [Curnoio] ! !
Var. fi. cophocarpa [Schimp.)
Plants more slender, tall, bright green above, rufescent below ; leaves
lanceolate below, longer, acutely acuminate; caps, on a shorter pedicel,
oval, brown, peristome very rudimentary.
S y n .— T . mutabile Var. b. cophocarpum S c h im p . Synops. 2 ed. 171.
Hab.— Chee-dale, Derby, c. fr. (Whitehead 1880)! ! Miller’s dale (West
1881) ! ! Clydach Valley, near Abergavenny (Mitten 1883)! !
This is indeed a variable moss, as one of its names implies, and no
doubt the last species has often been confounded with it. The excurrent
nerve varies in the length of the point, but there is always a certain tapering
upward of the lamina, this, with the minute opake areolation and plane
margins, best distinguish it. Mr. Mitten distributed specimens of the
Var. p. as Barhulapaludosa S chwaegr. = Tortula crocea B r id . (1806), but
it does not belong to that species, for although having much external resemblance
to it, it may be noted that Barhula crocea has shorter, straighter and
more erect leaves, suddenly pointed, the nerve only forming a short apiculus,
the areolation of the upper part is also smaller and more indistinct, and the
margin towards the apex has several irregular teeth.
17. MOLLIA LUTESCENS Lindb.
D io ic o u s ; resembling M. braehydontia, but with longer ligu la te
lea ves, a r ista te with the terete e xcu r rent nerve, th e cells all pellucid
and pulvinate. (T . X X X V I I I , C.)
S y n .— Mollia lutescens L in d b . MSS.
D io ic o u s ; in small la x incoherent tufts, yellowish green above,
rufescent below. L ea ve s ac c re scent upward, erecto-patent when moist,
críspate when dry, very long, narrow and ligulate, s ca rce ly con cav e,
suddenly pointed and a ristate with the excurrent n e r v e ; basal cells
narrowly rectangular, pellucid, upper all pellucid, v ery distinct and
with chlorophyl, not papillose, but pulvinate in outline.
T o RTULACEjE .] 247 [Mollia.
H a b .— Fissures of limestone rocks at Glena, Killarney, ? ster. (Lindberg,
July, 1873) '■ !
Although so close to M. braehydontia, this appears to be a good species,
being a coarser fragile plant with the cells in the upper part of leaf much
better defined.
Sect. 3. T O R T E L L A . C. Muell. Plants taller, robust, dense-leaved
throughout. Leaves long, carinate, cirrhato— críspate when dry, the
sheathing base thin, white, and hyaline. Peristome sometimes twisted.
18. MOLLIA TENUIROSTRIS (Hook. Tayl.) Lindh.
Dio icous ; in lax soft bright green tufts, Lea ve s long, cirrhate,
flexuoso-patulous, linear -lanceolate, subundulate, nerve ending in the
apex. Cap s, narrow, cylindric, lid conico-rostrate, teeth linear-lanceola
te. (T. X X X V I , B.)
S y n .— ITm'ssìo; tenuirostris H o o k . T a y l . M u s c , b r i l, 2 ed. 8 s , subdI. t . 3 (18 2 7 ). H o o k B r .
1 1 . 1 1 ,2 1 ( 1 8 3 3 ) . M a c k . Fl. h ib e rn . P. II, 14 (18 3 6 ),
Weissia cylindrica B r u c h MSS. B r id . Bry. univ. i, Suppl. 806 ( 18 2 7 ). N e e s H o r n s c h .
Bry. germ, ii, P. II, 58, t. 29, f. 13 (183 2 ). D e N o t . Syllab. 232 (1838).
Weissia cirrata p . cylindrica H u e b e n , M u s c . g e rm . 12 7 {1833).
Didymodon tenuirostris W i l s . in H o o k . Bot. J . lii, 378 ( 18 4 1 ) . H u s n . M u s c . g a l l . 80, t.
22 ( 18 8 5 ) .
Didymodon cylindricus (non W a h l e n b . ) B r . S c h . Bry. eur. fasc. 2 9— 30. mon. 5, t. 3
( 18 4 5). R a b e n h . Deutsch. kr. 11. ii. S . 3, 102 ( 18 4 8 ). W i l s . Bry. brit. 108, t. 33
( 18 5 5 ) . S c h im p . Synops. 132 ( i8 6 0 ) , 2 ed. 164. B e r k . Handb. br. m. 265 (18 6 3 ). D e
N o t , Epil. bn. ital. 563 ( i8 6 g ) . H o b k . Syn. br. m. 59 (18 73 ). H u s n . M o u s s , nord-
ouest. 6g (1873). L e s q . J am e s Mosses N . Amer. 105 (1884).
Trichostomum cylindricum (non H e d w .) . C. M u e l l . Synops. i, 586 (1849), M i l d e Bry.
siles. 100 ( i8 6 g ) . J u r a t z . Laubm. oesterr.-ung. 104 (1882).
Tortula cylindrica M i t t . Journ. Linn. soc. 1, suppl. 28 ( 18 5 9 ).
Trichostomum tenuirosire L in d b . De Tort. 225 ( 18 6 4 ).
Tortula tenuirostris M i t t . Journ. Linn. soc. Bot. xii, 148 (18 6 9 ).
Mollia tenuirostris L in d b . M u s c . scand. 21 (1879).
Dio icous ; in flat, lax, soft tufts, y ellow green or sometimes dark
lurid green above, rufescent or fuscous at base. Stems i — 2 in. high,
flexuose, bifid or trifid by innovation. Le a v e s rather lax below,
becoming more crowded, longer and comant upward, very long from an
e re c t base, flexuoso-patulous, when dry strongly tw istin g and cirrhate,
linear-lanceolate, channelled, undulate, wings fragile, strongly v e r ru culose,
margin minutely crenulate, occasionally with a few remote teeth
a t apex, ce lls a t base lax p e llucid, gradua lly and equa lly becoming
oblong and oval, above roundish-quadrate, opake ; nerve terete,
narrow, prolonged into the apex. Perich. b ra cts with a longer
sheathing base ; caps, on a slender reddish-yellow seta, erect, lep to dermous,
narrowly cylindric, pale brown ; lid pale red, conico-rostrate.