Male plants in distinct tufts, ta lle r and more slen d e r ; infl. discoid,
inner perigonial bra cts narrow at base, suddenly expanded and then
contrac ted into an acute point, the nerve slightly lamellose a t apex.
H a b .— Among stones and grass by the sides of streams, and among the
sandy deposit washed down by the water, not common. Male and
barren plants only.
Eoggy ground, Rowley moor, near Rochdale [Nowell 1848). Staley brushes, Lancashire
{Dr. Wood i860} ! ! Keh dough, Todmorden {Nowell 1S60). Several places near
Hebden bridge, Yorkshire, and in the Saddieworth district {Hunt, Hobkirk) ! ! Rattle
brook, Dartmoor {Mr. Brent) ! ! and Tay Cleave {Holmes 1868). Near the head of the
Luchir, Carmarthen {Rev. A. Ley 1878) ! !
Var. ¡3. Bensifolia Linib. Op. cit. p. 150.
Plants dwarf, dense leaved ; leaves broader, elliptical, more patulous.
Syn.— Atrichnm crispnm vnr. foliis latiorihus, elUpticis WiLS. MSS.
Hab.— Oakmere, Cheshire {Wilson i860) ! Male plant only.
The fertile plant has only been found in N. i-\merica, and has a shorter
stem, with the leaves denser, longer, more lingulate and crisped.
2. O L IG O T R IC H U M L am. D e C.
{Fl. franc. 3 ed., ii, 491 (1805). )
S tems simple, innovating from subterranean stolons. L e a v e s
lanceolate or oblong, incurved when dry, v ery concav e ; lamellre
numerous, high, strongly undulated. Capsule erect, ovate-oblong,
terete, or glbbose and compressed ; ca lyp tra cuculla te, with a few
sca ttered hairs or naked ; lid conic, ros trate ; teeth o f peristome
slender, irregular.
This genus is named from the calyptra having “ few hairs,” and
stands immediately between Catharinea and Polytrichmn, agreeing ivith the
former in its mode of growth and capsule, and with the latter in its rigidity,
more opake leaves and areolation.
Several other allied genera have been formed, which are perhaps
better regarded as sections of the present, and we thus have i. Euoligotrichum,
of which our British species is the type, and including others from South
America and the E. Indies ; 2. Psilopiltmt, of five species, one of which is
found in the extreme north of Europe; 01. glahratum (W a h l .)— Psilopilum
arcticum B r id . 3. Dendroligotvichum, represented b}’ the giant Pol. dendroides
B r id . 4. Polytrichadelphus, embracing some 20 species, nearly all South
i\merican.
Although the character of the genus differs but little from that of
Catharinea, it has a peculiar habit which is very striking in the growing state,
and the lid is so slightly attached, that it generally falls away with the
calyptra.
OLIGOTRICHUM INCURVUM (Huds.) Lindb.
D io ico u s ; stems short, simple. Le a v e s patent, incurved, lanceolate,
concave, involute above, subserrate, lamellm numerous, undulated.
Capsu le erect, ovato-cylindric ; lid conic, acuminate. (T. V , D.)
S y n .— Brymn incurvwn H u d s . Fl. Angl. 2 ed. 479 {1778).
Catharinea hcrcynica E h r h . Beitr. i, igo (1787). W e b . M o h r Bot. Tasch. 217 (1807).
Fl. dan. t. 1417 (1810). R ö h l . Deutsch. Fl. iii, 6i (1813) ; Ann. Wett. Ges. iii, 232
(1814). B r id . Mant. musc. 203 (1819); Bry. univ. ii, 99.(1827). R a b e n h . Deutsch.
Krypt. Fl. ii, P. 3, 234 (1848). C. M u e l l . Syn. musc. i, 196 (1849).
Pulytrichum hercynicum H e d w . St. crypt, i, 40,1 . 15 (1787) ; Sp. musc. 94 (1801). S ch r a n k
Baier. Fl. ii, 447 (1789) ; Prim. Fl. sal. 824 (1792). D i c k s . PI. crypt, Fase. 2, 3 (1790).
W i t h . Bot. arr. Br. Veg. 3 ed. iii, 797 (1796). B r id . musc. rec. ii, P. I, 91, t. 2, f. 12
(1798) ; Sp. musc. I, 77 (1806). H u l l Brit. Fl. P. 2, 248 (1799). R o th Fl. germ, iii, 353 (1800). R ö h l . Moosg. Deuts. 197 (1800). S m it h Eng. Bot. t, 121g (1803) ; Fl. Br.
ill, 1381 (1804). W ä h l e n d . Fl. Lap. 34S (1812); Fl. Carp. 349 (1814). S c h w a e g r .
Suppl. I, P. II, 329 (i8i6). H o o k . T a y . Musc. Br. 24, t. X (1818). F u n c k Moostasch.
70, t. 57 (1821). G r a y Nat. arr. Br. PI. i, 720 (1821). H o o k . Fl. Scot. P. 2,125 (1821) ;
Brit. Fl. ii, 45 (1833). W a l l r . Fl. crypt, germ, i, 195 (1831). H u e b e n . Musc. germ.
521 (1833).
Orthotrichuvi hcrcynicmn H o f f m . Deutsch. Fl. ii, 25 (1795).
Atrichum hercynicum P . B e a u v . Prodr. 42 (1805).
Oligotrichum hercynicum L am . e t D e C. Fl. franc. 3 ed. ii, 492 (1805). B r . S c h im p . Bry.
eur. iv, mon. 4, t. 5 (1844) ; Syn. musc. eur. 436 (i86o), et 2 ed. 531 (1876). W i l s .
Bry. Brit. 205, t. x (1855). B e r k . Handb. Br. m. 212, t. 19, f. 3 (1863). M i l d e Bry.
Sii. 247 (1869). D e N o t . Epil. Briol. Ital. 342 (1869). H o b k . Syn. br. m. lOi (1873).
OUg. incurvum L in d b . in H a r tm . Skand. Fl. 9 ed. ii, 45 (1864), et in Not. ur Sallsk. Fn.
et Fl. fenn. forh ix, 144 (1867).
Dio icou s ; greg ariously caespitose, in loose tufts, adhering by the
earth at roots, pale glaucous green, when old rufescent. Stems about
I in. high, e re c t, simple, rigid. L ow e r lea ves remote, minute, appressed,
oval, acuminate ; upper crowded, rigid, twisted when dry, pa tent when
moist, subarcuate-incurved, v ery concave, from a pale thin, sheathing
base, narrowly lanceolate, the margin inflexed above the middle, remotely
serrate in upper part ; nerve at back toward apex, w'ith three narrow
remotely serrate lamella;, above with lo — 12 high, sinuose, strongly
undulated lamellae, each in section of 5— 12 equal rounded cells.
Capsule on a thickish orange-red pedicel, twisted to the r ight above
when dry, ovato-cylindr ic, erect, ferruginous, when dry plicate, con tra cted
below the mouth, and with a few s tomata on the neck ; lid large, convex-
conic, obtusely a cuminate, fugacious ; te e th o f peristome pale, short,
unequal ; spores v ery small, smooth.
Male plants short, more slender, the infl. rosaceous, bracts broadly
oval, acute, with a lamellar nerve ; paraphyses both filiform and
spathulate.
H a b .— Bare declivities and sandy ground on mountains. Scotland, Wales,
N. of England, Ireland. Fr. 7.
Var. ß. laxum Braithw.
Stems 3— 4 in. high, slender, flexuose. Leaves more distant and