pitr ï. Small tuft of Diphyscium foliosum, natural size- Fig. 2. Single plant of the same, do. Fig- 3. Single
plant magn. Fi*. 4. Exterior leaf. Fig. 5. Interior, do. Fig. 6 and 7. Perichætial leaves. Fig. 8. Capsule
removed from the leaves with part of the perichætium, attached to the base of the fruit-stalk. Fig. 9. Calyptra,
removed from the capsule. Fig. 10. Ripe capsule, showing the peristome and the pistalla on the superior portion
of the perichætium. Fig. 11. Calyptra, retaining a portion of the coljimella. Fig. 12. A nearly ripe capsule
longitudinally dissected, showing the seminal sack, lengthened into the columella, and attached to the operculum,
the filaments connecting the seminal sack with the inside of. the capsule and the peristomium. Fig. 13. Portion
of the peristome.--All thesefrom Jig. 3. are more or less highly magnified.
We shall hardly have another opportunity of representing on the same plate two plants which have excited the
interest o f museologists in so high dégree as those now given. Norie perhaps have been more ably illustrated ;
vet it does not seem to have been determined whether or not they should constitute one single genus, nor do they
who have decided upon their being kept separate appear to us to have pointed out those marks which most satis-
•facforily entitle them to rank in separate genera, ' . 1 I , H i I . y,. .
Before entering however, more fully on this topic, we shall under the description of the present species, Diphy-
m um foliosum, take notice of some peculiarities which it has in common with the other, Buxbaumia aphylla.
On the first fiance at either of them,'the Botanist will not fail to be struck by the oblique direction ot the cap-
suie, by its unequal sides, and the gibbosity at its base. I f this capsule should be fully formed, but still contain-
liner the seeds within the seminal bag, a perpendicular section aided by a good microscope will bung to view a highly
curious structure. The seed-bag, although, arrived at its greatest size, will be found to occupy the centre of the
capsule, a considerable space being left on every side of it empty, except that it is traversed by numerous whitish,
branched, iointed, succulent fibres, connecting the seed-bag with the inner paries or wall of the capsule, lh e base
of the bag is contracted into a narrow neck or fruit-stalk, in itself succulent and fixed into a succulent, green tuber-
culated bulb at the very bottom of the capsule. The other extremity of the sack is lengthened out into a columella
r 13. lower fig.Y: this is club-shaped at the point where it is connected with the operculum, to which a portion
of ï t not unfrequently remains attached when this latter is removed. Except m being more cylindrical, the seminal
sack takes very nearly the figure of the capsule, being always more gibbose on that side which corresponds with the
gibbosity of the latter. The colour of the sack depends much on that of the seeds ; if these are green, the membrane
which covers them is so too ; if by age they are become yellow-brown, the sack partakes ot the same colour;
but where it terminates in the operculum it is almost colourless, that part being entirely destitute of seeds, and cellulose.
This sack presents under a highly magnifying lens a reticulated appearance, as may be seen at Jig. 13 ot
the lower table. I f while young it be cut horizontally, it is seen filled with cellules containing a liquid and granules
( f,p\ U . lower figure!, probably the incipient seeds, of which those near the margin alone become ferule.
It would be curious to ascertain, were it possible, what becomes ö f the substance forming the cellules m the early
state • for the ripe seeds are quite free and unconnected, yet not separated by any membranous substance, such as
the walls of the cellules appear to have been formed of. Ou the contrary, they occupy a cavity around the columella,
which appears evidently to be nothing more than the remains of the cellular and pulpy substance in which the
seeds havé not been perfected, and which, as we may consequently expect, when dry, shrinks up into an angular axis
or columella, as it is called by Hedwig and other museologists. In the lower figure, at fig. 16 . is represented the
seminiferous sack, from which the ripe seeds have been removed to exhibit the central shrivelled columella, of a
browner colour than the coat of thë sack. H H H H , T
The internal structuré of the sack is probably not essentially different from that in all other mosses ; and l cor;
■ dially assent to the opinion of my friend Mr. Brown, who observes that “ m some cases fteseeds may be formed
in a much areater portion of the columnella than in others ; and it is even not improbable that in certain cases its
WhoTe substance may be converted into seeds ; or, to speak more accurately, that it may produce seeds even to
the centre, and that the cells in which they were probably formed may be reabsorbed .
Thus far the two mosses, which by the older Botanists have been united under the name of B iix b q um m ,^ -
-"they differ strikingly in the subject of the present description, being leafy, having the habit o f a Phascum, and being
sessile, whilst Buxbaumia is (what is quite an anomaly in the Order Muscî) altogether leafless, and has its c^ule
elevated upon a long fruit-stalk. A further difference lies in this latter being furnished with a double peristomium,
while Diphyscium has a single one, notwithstanding that Hedwig and Mohr have maintained a contrary opinion.
The former indeed of these Botanists, speaking of the outer peristome, says “ Buxbaumiæ sessili tantum rudi-
menta appehdiculorum adsunt;” and Mohr owns that « Peristomium externum vix ullum; though he places it
ambfia those which have a double peristomium, and calls the membranous cone a Peristomium intenus.
■ Hedwig considers this cone to be formed “ ex meris ciliis in membranam integram connexis; and he adds,
-• sdcos Jdecim longitudinales habet.” I have myself seen what appeared to be distinct.cilia; but whether they
reallv were so or only the plicæ of the membrane, I could not satisfy myself, {peeJig. 1Ô. or jjipn .jo i.)
■ The same author has ably illustrated, in his “ Weena," the young male and female fructification 2*
andin figured the peristome ; but I do not understand the pecten of Schim ,
which that writer has given both in his figure of oor Diphyscium foliosum and of Embauma aphylla.. (See his
^‘Ehrhart, finding the pcnstoihe o f this plant to differ from Buxbaumia, made of it the genus fFcfcre, a nm
which has been applied to another family of mosses, and generally received. Mohr, in his j j B M B M M j j l
published at Kiel in 1803, altered it to Diphyscium, the specific name given bv Ehrhart. Palisot do B «™
called it Hymenopogon hètcrophyllum, a name so much more applicable that we cannot but remit that it was p
fished subsequently to Mohr's Observational ; which renders it impossible for it to be f
We must not omit to notice the similarity that exists between the membranous.peristome of "
Brown, and of B ryan macrocarfum of Hedwig, and that of our plant. In them, however, the peu ommm ne
forms à plicate cotie, and arises from the internal membrane ; whereas in the Diphyscium as well as m .Bmbrnma
it originates from within the margin of the external covering- of the capsule In Bryum ,
moreover, according to Hedwig, an outer peristome of sixteen short te e th .-O f the place of the genus of tins pint
in the, system we shall make mention under the next description of Buxbaumia. . I g M M H H
Diphyscium foliosum grows in woods and upon thededmt.es of M M W M iW T
rions. I have found it in various parts of the Highlands of Scotland, in Cumberland and Westmoreland, p r t»
lariy by the road side on the mountains between Tatterdale and Ambleside In Wales it is t g j w S U g
inèans uncommon in Ireland. In the South of England it is more rare ; the only habitat we know of it bemj "
Bridge rocks, and the lower part of Harrison's rocks, near the field, Tunbridge Wells, where
Mr. Torster.— On the Continent it seems, by the numerous Floras in which it finds a place, to be more p
J* See a most valuable paper, where the subject of the fructification o f mower is a U v iM d , *
I .— Tr.™«»™,, p! S > _ P r . f e ,o , — * ’ too, ,n ‘ ‘ S p . «*
work that is not known "as it deserves
mosses. “ Toute pyxidule {capsulenobis) est d abord com]
substance interne se grenèle finement, se distingue peu à
portion centrale de cette substance persiste sous la forme c
du test se lâche, se raréfie, e t sa membrane pariétaire interr
eière- ainsi se forme ce petit sac pollinifêre des Linnéistes,
........................... thé IQth volume of
ih of JBulliard’s Dictionnaire Èï'én
be in this country, has the following remark on the internai structure ui <-.«= sa
” • ’ -■ * sobde et charnue; mais lorsqu’elle a pris uncertaiqacçroisseme i,*
... .a___ __C- h A’..ne trofl fini* nniififiirtrfi. Assez SOUVclif
passe enfin à l’état d’uné très fine poussière. Assez s< _ J
axe longitudinal, qu'on appelle columelle.
b sépare peu à peu de l’externe, et devient l’enveloppe immédiate ae » i
quel diverses sectes de Cryptogamistes donnent divers noms. —P-0' 1
tiian with us. We have ourselves seen it in the: greatest abundancé and perfection in the forests oh both sides of
the valley of Chamouny in Savoy j- and as you ascend thé Mont Anvert to go to the Mer de Glace it grows on each
side of the foot-way. _
Without the fruit this moss is not easy to be detected, or it may be passed over for the shoots o f some of the
smaller species of Poly trichum, with which the leaves, in form and colour, have some affinity. These leaves are,
indeed, entirely overlooked by some authors; and the perichtetial ones, which are so totally unlike them, are described
as the entire foliage o f the plant.
bu x b a um ia a p h y l l a . l e a f l e s s b u x b a u m ia .
BUXBAUMIA aphylla. Linn. Sp. PI. p. 1570. FI. Suec. p. 463. Timm. Prodr, Fl. Megap. n. 858.
Linn. D m , in Amcen. .Acad. ml. 5. p . 78. cum Ic. Pollich Pal. n. 972. JVilld.
Prodr. Fl. Berol. n. 978. Hoffm. Germ. ml. 2. p . 22. Turn. Muse. Hib. Spic.
p. 104. Wade PL Mar, Hib. cum Lc. All. Fl. Ped. n. 2432. Fl. Dan. t. 44.
Ehrh. Phyt. p. 10. Swartz Muse. Suec. p. 74. Engl. Bot. t. 1506. Linn. Fil.
Diss. Mcth. Muse. p. 25. Hedw. Fund. Muse. t. 9- ƒ 52. t. 3 ; /. 10. Oed. Dan.
t. 44. Hedw. Sp. Muse. p. 166. Weber Spied. Fl. Goet. p. 130. Villars Delph.
ml. 3. p. 019. Mohr Fl. Crypt. Germ. p . 381. (t. XL . f . 2. perist.) Sturm Deutschl.
Fl. Ic. Baumg. Fl. Lips. n. 1326. Lamarck Diet. ml. l. p . 523. Lam. Fl. Fr.
ed. 3. ml. 2. p . 513. Lam. Fl. Gall. Syn. p. 106. Wahl. Lapp. p . 350. Roth.
Germ. ml. l. p. 446. ml. 2. p. 342. Jacq. Collect, ml. 3. p. 213. Ehrh. Han.
Magaz. an. 1780, p. 235. Leers Herb. n. 887. Gum. Norv. n. 571. Re tz Prodr.
Fl. Scand. n. -1188. Brid. Muse. Recent, ml. 4 .p . 147.
BUXBAUMIA caulescens. Schmid. Diss. p . 25. Ic. 'f. 1—25. Schranck Bavar. ml. 2. p . 485.
SACCOPIIORUS aphyllus. Pal. de Beawo. Prodr. d ’JEtheog. p. 29.
HIPPOPODIUM. Fabric. Primit.p. 3 1.
MUSCUS capillaceus aphyllus, capitulo crasso bivalvi. Bu.vb. Cent. 2. p. 8. t. 4. f. 2. Dill. Muse
[ p . 477. t. 68. f . 5" ..
BUXBAUMIA caulescens, aphylla. Hall. Helv. n. 1728. Gleditsch. Meth. Fung.p. 142.
MUSCUS nanus, tuberosa radice, foliis juniperinis, tenuissime serratis, capitulo magno, ovato, ventri-
i coso, calyptra tomeiitosa. Mich. Nov. Gen. PL p. 109. n. 1 3 ?
Class a n d Ord e r . CRYPTOGAMIA MUSCI.
[Natural Ord e r . MUSCI, Juss. Decandolle. CRYTOGAMÆ CALYPTRATÆ D iv A
0PERCULATÆ, Mohr.]
Gen. Char. Perist. duplex. Ext. filis numerosis, inarticulatis, succulentis. Int. membrana conoidea,
plicata. Calyptra mitræformis. {Capsula obliqua, hiuc gibba.)
Planta; sparsim, rarius gregatim crescunt.
Caulis omnino nullus!
pOLIA nulla!
Perichaitium terram in parte immersum, e t radices
tomentosas fuscas eniittens, ovato-oblongum, bul-
biforme, villis nigricantibus, brevibus, strictis va-
rieque intectextis qbtectum, intus lmve.
Seta tri- ad quinque-üriearis, rigida, crassiuscula, erecta,
paululum tarnen flexuosa, cylindrica, rubro-pur-
purea, nitida, tuberculis minutis numerosis ex-
,,asperata.
Capsula, apophysi oblonga, parva insti-ucta; magna,
ovata, obliqua, supra plana, submarginata, basi
producta vel gibba, infra convexa, oris margine
elevato hic illic fisso. Substantia parte superiore
tenera, inferiore membranaceo-carnosa. Color
vinais rubedine saspe tinctus, maturitate rufo-
■ : fuscus.
Operculum cpnico-obtiisum, capsulee coloi’e.,
Calyptra mitrmformis, conico-subacuminatum, mem-
bi-anaceum, integerrimum.
RIStomium duplex: ,ext. ciliis numerosis, subasqua-
nbus, inai'ticulatis, subtorulosis, opacis, obscure
rufescentibus; int. membranaceum, tenerum, albi-
SuMrw du“ ’- conum efformans plicatum, Striatum.
o^flUNA numerosa, minuta, subsphmrica, pallide luteo-
P lants growing scattered about, rarely collected close
together.
Stem scarcely an y !
Leaves none!
P ericiletium partly immersed in the earth, and emitting
brown, fibrous radicles, ovato-oblong, b.ulbi-
form, covered with short, straight or variously
interwoven blackish hairs, within smooth.
Fru it-stalk from three to five lines long, rigid, thick-
ish, erect, although a little flexuose, cylindrical,
reddish purple, shining, rough, with very numerous
minute tubercles.
Capsule seated upon a small oblong apophysis, large,
■ ovate, oblique, above flatfish, somewhat margined
; at the base produced or gibbous, below convex
; the mouth has an elevated margin which
is here and there cleft. The substance in the upper
part is thin and delicate, the rest between
membranaceous and carnose. The colour is
green, often tinged with red, when ripe red-brown.
Operculum obtusely conershaped, of the same colour
as the capsule.
Calyptra mitrsbform, conical and subacuminate, membranaceous,
entire.
Peristomium double: exterior of numerous,.nearly
equal, jointless, somewhat torulose, opaque, reddish
cilia; interior membranaceous, delicate,
whitish, forming a plicated and striated, cone.
Seeds numerous, minute, somewhat spherical, pale yellow
brown.
Fig. 3. Individuals more
growth. Fig. 6. One of
Calyptra. Fig. 9. Oper-
the external peristomium.
nSvinSS; ^ ° t ? of ^nxbaumia aphylla. Fig. % One of the same magnified,
tile sam. m.3 'c . j' °5!; of 1116 same magnified. Fig. 5. Plants arrived at their foil
culurii. * My.fon q ed capsule longitudinally dissected. Fig. 8.
« • 10. Upper half of a ripe capsule with tlie operculum removed, showing