H ab. Subalpine countries upon rocks, in woods anil beathy places, abundant.— Var. ¡2
was discovered by the Itev. fí. B. Francis, growing am ong Dicranum glaucum, in HoU wood,
and Isas since been found by Miss llutchins so imbedded among mosses and tu fts of
J . nemorosa, th a t only the tops o f th e shoots appear. D r . Taylor likewise finds ic near
D ublin, and Mr. LyeU a t Kinnordy.— (Tiie male fructificaliou e.xists th ro u g h o u t th e year :
th e female, which is fa r less common, is produced in the sp rin g months).
Pi-AN’T growing in more o r less densely-crowded patches, and of various dimensions.
Roofs abundant, and often c lothing the whole unde r side o f th e stem, consisting o f m inute ,
simple, brownish fibres.
Stems from one to two, o r th re e inches long, never, I believe, really branched, b ut here and
there p roducing simple innovations, which have sometimes th e appearance o f divided s tem s;
flexuose, filiform, cellulose, o f a greenish color, inclining to brown in older specimens.
L eaves va rying much in the closeness o f the ir position : sometimes they are densely
imbric a ted; a t o th e r times, distantly placed; half a line long, distichous, altern.ate,
p a ten t o r e re c t, o f a subquadrate figure, slightly d e cu rren t a t the base, a t the extremity
divided in to g ene ra lly three, b u t sometimes only two, or often four, large, trian g u la r
te e th ; n ot always, indeed, o f equal sizes, for the inferior one (which is ne a re st th e base
o f the plant) is usually the smallest, and frequently incurved, o r even conduplicate, while
th e rest are expanded : they a re entire, mostly a cute and diaphanous a t th e ajiex (f. 9) ;
sometimes a cuminate, o r even spiniform, and sometimes, especially in the var. j2, obtuse.
Besides these large te e th o r segments, th e re is a very min u te one situated a t the base of
the uppe r margin o f th e leaf, ne a r its insertion on th e stem (f. f. 10. 11. 13). The color,
too, is remarkably variable, depending much on the more o r less exposed place o f g rowth
o f th e individuals. Most usually it is a pale, sometimes a bluish, green. In f a r . /3, brownish.
T h e cellules (f. 1 1 ) a re somewhat o f a roundish form.
O f th e stipules th e re is one to each pair of leaves, wliich varies considerably in size upon
different specimens. I t is always o f a widely lanceolate figure, divided for more than
thre e -fourths o f th e way into two narrov/ a cuminate segments, which, on the ir margins,
a re again c u t into variously-sized te e th o r laciniæ. In texture and color it resembles
the leaves.
T h e perigonial leaves (f. f. 4. 6) are crowded to g e th e r a t the extrem ity o f a stem, and
scarcely differ from the common cauline ones, exc ep t in b e ing more convex, and in
having a swollen or ventricose base.
O f th e perichceiial ones, thre e o r four surround th e base of the c a ly x : the ir figure is
su brotund, concave in th e inside, a t the apex quadrifid, with the segments very sharp ;
ne a r th e base, on one side, is a small spiniform tooth (f. 13).
H.ale F ructifica t io n in the axillæ o f th e p e rigonia l leaves:
Anthers o f an ovato-spherical form, o f a greyish color, slightly reticulate. Footstalk short,
whitish, cellulose.
Female F ru ctification te rm in a l, b ut frequently appe a ring la te ra l from the “ innovatio caulis"
ju s t beyond it.
T h e caly x , before i t has acquired th e len g th o f th e perichætial leaves, is nearly sphærical,
th en ovate, or ra th e r obovate (f. 8) , plicated u pw a rd ; th e moiUh contracted, and
sharply, b u t ir re g u la rly , toothed.
Calyptra ovate, delicate, reticula ted, and tipped with a .short tu b u la r style.
P isn lla numerous, lanceolate, a little swollen a t th e base, and slightly expanded a t the mouth.
Peduncle from th re e -fourths of an inch to one inch in length, while, suc culent, cellulose.
Capsule da rk brown, ovate, approaching to spherical, opening into four, or sometimes,
according to Schmidel, thre e valves.
Seeds and spiral JUaments deep fulvous brown : th e former sphe ric a l; the la tte r formed of
a double Helix.
Gemma: are produced both on th e common appearance o f the p lan t, and more abundantly on th e
var. ¡2. On th e former, I have always observed them to be collected into small spherules (f. 16) ;
in th e la tte r, to be loosely scattered a t th e apices o f th e leaves. In both, they are of a roundish
figure, beset with sharp angles, o f a greenish brown color, semipellucid.
My var. ¡2 (f. 18) is considerably smaller than a , rarely exceeding an inch in len g th , notwithstanding
th a t the uppe r half is usually lengthened and ascendant, Tliis pai t is covered with leaves so
closely imbricated on each side o f th e stem, and appressed to it, as to conceal it altoge the r, and
make it bear no inconsiderable resemblance to the shoots o f J. consinriata: while the lower
leaves are pa ten t, as in th e common sta te o f th e plant. T h e leaves, however, throughout,
a re m ore concave, and th e color much browner. T h e uppermost leaves are notched, forming
th re e , and sometimes only two, small teeth (f. f. 19. 2 0 ). On these the Gemms a re situated.
T h e leaves below them are frequently antheriferous. So small are th e stipules, th a t they are
w ith difficulty discoverable; and they will be found to be rather ovate th an lanceolate, whilst the
ma rgins are nearly intire . Unfortunately, no F emale Fructification has been yet met with,
by which it might he ascertained how fa r I have done r ig h t in making th e present plant a variety
o f J . barbata, for it differs in many p a rticu la rs ; and I am n o t aware, th a t the common appearance
of th is species has ever been found in our fiat parts of E n g lan d ; it being confined, as I have
reason to th in k , to somewhat mountainous districts.
No tw ith stan d in g th a t th e figure 2 3 , t. 71, o f Dillenius has been generally quoted as the
J . iribolala, i t is really intended, as well as figure 22 of th e same p la te , for th e p lan t here
described, if any dépendance c an be p u t in the specimens corre sponding with those numbers in the
He rb a rium a t Oxford. Micheli's repre senta tion of this species is particula rly unsatisfactory : th a t
o f Schimdel, in his /cones, as well as his e laborate description, are truly fi'om the hands of a
m a ste r, a lthough he has fallen in to the same e rro r in common with th e o th e r botanists who have
d escribed ibis p lan t, all of whom, with the exception o f Dillenius, have om itted to notic e the
stipules. I am m uch surprised th a t they should have escaped th e a cu te researches o f Wahlenberg
and Mohr. These na tura lists have, it is true , discovered them o n what I consider to be th e same
species, th e J .F lu r k ii; for n o th in g can b e tte r correspond with o u r pre sent species th an the
d e sc ription of it in the Flora Cryptogamica GenjianitE.- “ Foliis inæqua litè r tridenta tis, cæterîim
in teg e rrim is : am phiga stiiis (our stipules) 2 -p a riitis , laciniis sub|)innatifidis." Yet, although
Wahlenbe rg refers to Mohr’s description, he has represented the p lan t as h aving simple stipules.