Dioicous ; plants tall, slender, crowded into lax rufo-fuscous tufts.
Le a v e s when dry: laxly incumbent and sligh tly twisted, when wet
suddenly fa lcato-recurved, subtrifarious, from an oblong base, lanceo late ,
shorter and broader than those o f B . fallax, more solid, a cute ly carinate,
with stronger longitudinal folds at base, strongly papillose on both
sides, nerve fuscous, o f equal width, vanishing in the apex, margin erect,
plane above, resupinato-reflexed towards base, one wing reflexed almost
from the middle ; cells as in la st, lowest basal ra ther larger, quadrate
and rectangular, pachydermous, upper rounded. Ca lyp tra v ery narrow,
prolonged to J of capsule, subulate; caps, e re c t, elongate, cylindraceous,
regular, rufo-fuscous ; lid with a subulate beak ; ann. none ; peristome
o f B . fallax. Male plant more slender.
H ab.— Among earth on limestone rocks and walls ; not common.
Above Airlie Castle, Forfar (Drummond) ! Buxton and Middleton, Derby (Wilson) ! !
Ingleboro’ and Giggleswick Scar. {Baker 1S55) ! ! Mucross, Killarney (Schimper and
Wilson 1865). Barrowfield and Whitbarrow (Barnes 1867). Litton and Malham
(Hunt 1867)!! Ben Lawers (Hunt). Hayle sands (, Curnow 1871)!!, ,
Via Gellia,
Matlock (Holmes 1875). Miller’s dale,
Castleton and Buxton {Holt 1883) ! !
Var. B. robusta Braithw.
Stems tall, 3-5 in. high, in lax incoherent tu ft s ; leaves more dense,
broader and thicker.
H ae.— Limestone rocks at Ben Buiben, Sligo (Moore) !!
The slender form of B . reflexa and the carinate strongly recurved leaves,
suddenly pointed and never acuminate, at once separates it from B . fallax.
The fruit is extremely rare, and the drawing of it is copied from Schimper’s
figures ; Mr. Holt finds not unfrequently in the Matlock districts a slender
fruiting form of B . fallax growing intermixed with B. reflexa, for which it
may be readily mistaken.
The Var. fi. was at first referred by Mr. Mitten to B . gigantea (Geheebia
catarractamm S c h im p .) but that species has much longer leaves with very
different areolation. In his Synopsis, 2 ed. Schimper records the latter from
Scotland, but no British specimen exists in his herbarium, and it is therefore
probably only an erroneous repetition of the Irish record.
7. BAEBTILA SPADICEA. Mitt.
Dio icous ; lurid green, la xly tufted. L e a v e s patent from the base,
elongato-lanceolate, nerved to the apex, margin recurved below, cells
incra ssa te and rounded from the base. C ap s , cylindric, lid shortly
rostrate. (T . X L , A.)
S v n .— Didymodon rigidulus B r id . M u s c . rec. II, P. I, 116 (1798), Sp. musc. I, 160 (1806),
Mant. ro o (i8 ig ) , Bry. univ. i, 5 14 (1826). Sw a r t z M u s c . suec. 38 (1799). R o th F l.
germ, iii, P. I, 198 {1800). W e b . M o hr Bot. Tasch. 59 (1807). S c h k u h r Deutsch. kr.
gew. P. II, 68, t. 30 (1810). S c h w a e g . Suppl. I, P. I, 116 (1811). H u e b e n . Musc,
germ. 286 {1833).
Bryum rigidnlum D i c k s . PI. crypt, fasc. iv, 12 (1801).
Trichostomum rigidnlum (non H e d w .) S m , Fl, brit. 1238 (1804), Eng. Bot, t . 2178. T u r n .
Musc. hib. 34 (1804). B r . S ch im p . Bry. eur. fasc. 18-20, p. 10, t. 7 (1843). C. M u e l l .
Synops. i, 570 (1849). W i l s . Bry. brit. 114, t. 20 (1855). S c h im p . Synops. 148 (i860).
H u s n . M ouss. nord-ouest 73 (1873), Musc. gall. 85, t. 24 (1885).
Barbula spadicea M i t t , in S e e m . Journ. Bot. 1867, p. 326.
Barbula insidiosa JUR. M i l d e Hedwigia 1869, p. 97. M il d e Bry. siles. 120 (1869).
J u r a t z . Laubm. oesterr.-ung. i i i (1882).
Barbula rigidula S c h im p . Synops. 2 ed. 206 (1876).
Tortula spadicea B r a it h w . in S e e m . Journ. Bot. 1871, p. 293, t. 119, f. 6. H o b k . Syn.
br. m. 69 (1873).
D io ico u s ; resembling B ./ a Z to , but more robust, in looser thicker
tufts, dull brownish-green above, fuscous below. Stems I— 2 in. high,
simple or branched ; leaves when dry incurved and imbricated, when
wet patent from the base, spreading and recurved, from a broadly ovate
base, elongato-lanceolate, channelled, margin recurved in the lower
half, the folds more distinct, nerve strong, d istin c t to the apex ; cells
incrassate and rounded-quadrate from the base, only the lowest elongate-
oval, obscure above, papillose. Pe rich. bracts lanceolate, recurved,
from a longish la x-celled base, seta red, caps, erect, cylindric, slightly
curved, castaneous with a red mouth, annulus o f 3— 5 rows o f small
cells, lid sh o r tly rostrate, nearly h a lf length o f cap s ., peristome short,
teeth red on a very short orange basal membrane, scarce ly twisted. Male
plant more slender, infl. terminal, bra cts broad, suddenly acuminate.
H ab.— Damp walls, earth covered rocks and sandy banks of rivers ; not
uncommon. Fr. 9— 11.
Forfar (Croall 1852)!! Sheddon Clough, Burnley (Nowell)'.', Buxton (Wilson 1863)!!
Bolton Abbey (Haiti 1868) ! 1 Haselden gill (Nowell 1866). Dent (Barnes 1872) ! !
Dovedale (Holmes 1875)!! Castleton (Holt 1885) !! Glen Prosen (Fergusson 1868) I !
Crathie (Sim 1872) ! Belfast (Stewart 1877). Newcastle, Co. Down, Fairhead, .Antrim
(Rev. H. W. Lett 1884)!! Eskdale. Yacks. (Boswell 1878). Bearley, Warwick
(Bagnall).
Readily known from B. rigidula by the broader-pointed leaves, with thick
nerve vanishing just below apex, and very different basal areolation, and
from B. fallax by the longer leaves with opake rather obtuse points and short
non-spiral peristome.
8. BAEBTILA RIGIDULA (Hedw.) Mitt.
D io ic o u s ; densely tufted, dingy green. L ea ve s subrecurved, longly
lanceolate from an e re c t base, nerve ending in the th ick obscure point,
margin revolute below, basal cells narrowly rectangular. Cap s, oval-
oblong, lid obliquely beaked. (T. X L , B.)
S y n .— M us cus trichodes parvus, folUs musci vulgaris, capitulis longis acutis D o o d y . R a y
Synops. St. br. 243 (i6go).
Muscus Adiantum aurcum dictiis assurgcns, foUolis tenuissimis, capitulis parvis erectis in
oblongis pcdiccllis Ray Syn. 2 eti. 31 (1696).
Bryum pcrangusiis foliis et cauliculis, foliis crchrioribus et circa cxtrcmitates magis
congcstis, capitulis erectis, ad summitatcm magis egrcdicntibus D i l l . Cat. Giss. 225 (1719).
R a y Syn. 3 ed. 99 (1724).