pro organis feinineis optinio ju r e liaberi poteruiit. Ncque obstiu-et cleclarata eorum flexilitas, quæ
uil facile iiliud uisi pa rie tuni tene rita tc in involvet, e t jilantis ex me râ fobricà vesiculari succres-
centibus, vix quidquam officiet. Si ig itu r Vascula Antheræ polliniferæ porrò dici v o lunt, acervuli
a u t fru strò creati sunt, a u t verior usus illis adsignandus e s t eo, i[uem dixinius. Neijue enim per
glomerulos istos, ijui nunquam solvuntur, neíjue p e r contenta eorum, quæ citò contabescunt, pianta
propagabitur, siculi experimeutis cautissimè cnptis su p ra evicimus,” The same author has remarked,
th a t th e calyptra, or, as he considered it, th e corolla, instead o f opening a t th e extremity for the
emission o f th e capsule, is carried u p upon it by the elongation o f th e peduncle. “ Cùm etiam
corolla, lit vidimus, railicata s it, ideò interdùm accidit, subeunte velocius humore a u t in frondcm,
a u t pedunculum egressum pa rantem, a u t u bi frondis m argines earn non satis a rctè firmant; u t corolla
ex p a rte radicosà frondis solvatur e t cum pedúnculo, rag lnæ instar, a tto lla tu r ; eura autem ob pondus
adpeiisum ita impediat, u t ra rò notabilem altitudinem nancisci time possit.” leones, p. 139.
Dillenius has quoted doubtftiUy th e Hepaticoides palustris Cichorii crispi fo liis , V a il l .^n t , Bot.
Par. p . 100. t. 19. f . 4. as a synonym to th e pi-esent species. T h e situation o f th e fructification,
however, in th a t p lan t, and th e figure o f th e capsule, prove th a t i t belongs ra th e r to J . epiphylla,
as Schmidel suspects, and indeed th a t i t can be considered only as a variety o f it.
Upon the unde r side o f th e fronds o f some o f th e plants which grew u n d e r w a te r, were
innumerable gi-anules, in te rm ix ed with many oblong pellucid bodies, which are represented a t
f. 9. and are, in a ll probability, some undescribed animalcules.
R E F E R E N C E S T O T H E P L A T E .
J . pinguis, with fem a le fruc tification, natural size.
Var. fi. natural size.
Under tide o f J . pinguis, natural size.
Male plants, natural size.
Under side o f a male f r o n d ..................................................................................................... 6
Antheriferous re c eptac le .......................................................................................................... 4
The s am e ........................................................................................................................................ 3
A n th e r s .......................................................................................................................................... 2
A minute animalcule, which abounds on the p la n t when it grows in water. . . . i
Calyptrce, entire, and longitudinally dissected.............................................................. 3
Young capsule, taken fr om the calyptra............................................................................. 3
Full grown capsule .................................................................................................................... 3
14. Capsules, w ith the valves expanded............................................................................. 4
An old capsule, fr om which the filaments have f a l l e n ............................................... 3
Portion o f the valve o f a capsule ....................................................................................... 1
Seeds and sp ira í filaments ..................................................................................................... 1
Frond, with young c a ly c e s ..................................................................................................... 6
Portion o f the same, with the calyx dissected, to shew the s ituation o f the p istilla 4
P istilia................................................................................................................. I
oblong shape, and in len g th , twice o r thric e exceeds th a t o f th e calyx. I ts texture is
very thick, carnose, and closely cellulose; its color a dirty white {f. f. 1 1 . ] 2) .
Peduncle from two to four inches long, whitish, cellulose, tip p ed with th e almost spherical
Capsule (f. f. 13. 14. 15), which is o f a pale greyish-brown color, and opens in to four
equal ovate v a lv e s : these soon become recurved, and exliibit th e
Sp ira l filaments, intermixed w ith th e seeds, attached to th e inner base o f the ca)isule, in
th e fo im o f a b e au tifu l tu f t or pencil (f. 15). T h e fojine r are extremely long, much
twisted, composed o f a double helix, and enclosed within a pcUncid, capillary tube. T h e ir
color is a pale reddish-brown; th a t o f th e seeds, which are o f an irregula r b u t more
o r less o b lo n g figure, is an olive-gi-een, inclining to yellow.
T h e var. fi longifolia has th e fro n d gre a tly lengthened out, so as n ot unfrequently to exceed three
or four inches, w h ilst its width is scarcely more than as many lines. So crowded is it in its
mode o f grow th , th a t it becomes e rect in some situations. I t is more delicate in its texture
th a n a , and has its ma rg in more frequently formed into lobes, in th e sinuses o f w hich, Mr. Lyell
ha s rem a rk ed da rk m a rk s, whence have been produced la te ra l and undivided innov.ations, about
h a lf o r th re e qua rte rs o f an inch in le n g th , exactly resembling th e p a re n t frond.
y fu r d g e r a appears to be m o st abu n d an t in th e a utumna l m onths, when th e apices o f the fronds are
produced in a very remarkable m an n e r; forming innovations, or, p erhaps, more properly speaking,
branched elonga tions, which are considerably more narrow, and of a paler g re e n th an the re st of
th e fro n d an d have th e u ltim a te branches always more or less forked. As I have already
observed, th e nerve is he re a t a ll times very conspicuous, disappearing only immediately below
th e extremities o f th e divisions. In the m o n th o f March, 1 have lately remarked, on phmts of
this description, th a t th e branches become wider, and of a deeper color, and th a t they gradually
pa rtak e more o f th e usu a l appearance o f the p la n t : roots descend from th e ir u n d e r sides, and
th e old fronds seem to be going into a sta te o f d ecay; so th a t these curious processes are, in all
probability, destined by n a tu re as a means o f inc re a sing th e species, dilfercnt fro.n any tliat has
v e t been noticed in th e o the r Jungermaniiiae.
Of th e p re sen t species, Va illant was induced to consider, what I have above described as Um
elongateil variety, a distinct p la n t; and onr countryman, Mr, Dickson, h a , f o /w e d Him in tins
p a rticu la r; an opinion w ith which I would gladly have coinc.detl, b ut t l / , for my own par
can n e ithe r find in th e figure o t the one, nor in aiitlientie specimen, from th e o t l / , any / . i r a e t e i .
which will le;id me to suppose them o th e r than varieties, and I have c / s e q u / t l y t h o i / t i / t
as Limiarck luts nlready done, to make this appearance th e (3 ot epiphylla. T h e crisped / b i t b
„0 means peculiar to it, and seems only to arise from th e situation in ivlucl, ,t l,ap,Kned to grow;
for, among small loose stones, I have observed our comiiioit J . epiphylla to have an e q n / y cm
o r waved fiontl, in consequence of th e unevenness o f th e siirliico to wliieli it was attaolicd.
Whatever similarity m a , exist a t first s ig h t between th e various species of tiiose Dntisl,
Jnuge rmauniie , which Have been termeil by botaaiista, ■■fioi.dos«.- it is c e rta in , tliat no two o f