Sect. 2. S T E G O C A R P I .
Capsule dehiscing transversely by a l i d ; or in a few lower forms
the lid is absent, and the capsule ruptures only b y decay o f its walls.
Div. I . A n a r t h r o d o n t e i .
Peristome consisting o f solid teeth not transversely jointed, often
a tta ched at the apex to the discoidal dilated e xtremity o f the columella ;
sometimes ciliiform ; v ery ra rely none.
B U X B A U M IA . H a ll.
1. B, aphylla. L .
2. — indusiata. Brid.
Fam. 2. BUXBAUMIACEzE.
Plan ts very small, stemless, growing on the ground or on rotten
wood. L e a v e s obsolete. Capsules large, oblique, flattened, on stout
p e d ic e ls ; ca lyp tra minute c o n ic a l; peristome o f one or several series
o f linear teeth ; endostome a 32-plicate membrane in form o f a twisted
truncate cone ; spores v ery small.
T h e extremely curious plant on which the so lita ry genus in this
family is founded, was first discovered b y Buxbaum in 1712 , near
Astracan, on the banks o f the V o lg a , and he says, “ I wished to
follow the example o f Marchanti, and make it into a new genus
and name it after my father, but ca lled to mind th e fox, who was
derided by the others, because he begged the grapes, not for himself,
but for his sick m o th e r .”
It was for some time regarded as a fu n g u s ; but Dillenius
correc tly referred it to the mosses, and indeed terms it rcgiiia
muscorum; Schmidel submitted it to a minute investigation and
published the result in 1758, in a most b eau tifu lly illustrated D is sertation,
and Linnaeus also treated on it in several p la c e s ; in our
own day Z u k a l has gathered together much o f what is known on
the subject in an admirable paper in Verb. k. k. zool. bot. Gesells.
Wien xiii, p. i iq g (1863).
T h e sporadic ch ara c te r o f its distribution and the s can ty numbers
in which it is found have invested it with ra rity , and its discovery
is generally hailed with acclamation by collec tors, while its peculiar
structure will alwaj-s render it an ob ject o f interest to the brj'olog ist.
T h e first appearance of Bii.sbainnia aphylla is manifested by the
surface o f the ground being colored in patche s o f a peculiar gi'eenish