Radix parva, fusca. ■
Caules dense cæspitosi, vix bi-trilineares, simplicës, vel
innovatione hie itlic inferae divisi.
Folia ovata, valde concava, integerrima, apiculata,
nervo excurrente instructa, siccitate crispata, mas-
culis laxe, fructiferis arete imbricata et bulbillum
quasi forraantia; Color pallide-viridis;- Textura
reticulata, axeolis ovatis, ß g . 8.
P e r ig o n ia l ia reliquis simillima, sed minus concava.
P e richæ t ia l ia reliquis parum minora, magis concava,
vaginata.
Fructificätio dioica.
Masc. disciformis; Anther®, ß g .. 19- ovatö-ellipticre,
subpedunculatte, apice déhiscentes ; fila Succu-
lenta claviformia, afticulata, j%. 18. alba, pellu-
çida, interne granulata, granulis minutis, viridibus.
Fem in ea terminalis.. Seta sub-biuncialis, .flavescens,
inferae erectiuscula, superne incurva, atque va-
rio modo'fiexuosa, iructu maturo, erecta.
Capsula obovato-pyriformis, oblique inclinata, subcer-
' nua, basin versus attenuata, longitudinaliter sulcata,
laste viridis, demuin. aurantiaca, ore contracta
rubro.
Annulus ^implex.
Operculum conicum, obtusum, fulvum, basi rubra,
intus striata, striis obliquis.
Calyptra, junior, ß g . 10. e basi quadrangulari subu-
lata, atque apiculata, deinde basi infiata, hinç
longitudinaliter fissa.
P eristomium duplex, 20. Ext. dentibus sedecim,
rubris, transversim striatis atque denticulatis :
Int. ciliis sedecim flavescentibus, similiter stfi-
Semina minuta, spherica, fusca.
RooT:,small, brown.
Stems densely coespitose, scarcely two lines long, simple,
or here and there below divided by an innovation.
L eaves oyate, very concave, entire, apiculate, furnished
with an excurrcnt nerve, when dry, crisped m
the male plants laxly, in the fructiferous ones
closely imbricated and forming as it were a bulb
Colour pale green: Texture reticulated, with
ovate areolte, jig . 8.
P erig o n ia l leaves resembling the rest^ but less con-
The Perichætial ones are smaller than the rest, more
'* concave, sheathing.
Fru ctification dioecious.
Male disciform ; Anthers, Jig. 19. ovato-elliptical, on
short footstalks, dehiscent at the apex ; the succulent
filaments club-shaped, jointed, articulate,
jig . 18.. white, pellucid, granulated within, thé
granules minuté, green.
Female: Fructification terminal; Fruit-stalk about two
inches long, yellow, below nearly erect, upward
incurved, and variously flexuose, but erect on the
fruit b.eing ripe.
Capsule obovato-pyriform, obliquely inclined, subcer-
nuous, attenuated towards the base, longitudinally
striated, deep green, at length almost oranse-
coloured, the mouth contracted, red.
Annulus simple.
Operculum conical, obtuse, fulvous, red at the base,
striated within, the sti'iæ oblique.
Calyptra, when yoiing, Jig. iO. from a quadrangular
base becoming subulate, and apiculate, afterwards
inflated at the base, on one side longitudinally
cleft
P eristome double, Jig. 20. The exterior of sixteen
teeth, red, transversely.striated and denticulated:
the interior of sixteen cilia, which are yellowish,
and in like manner striated.
Seeds minute, spherical, brown.
Fig. 1: Tuft of the natural size of F. hygrometrica. Fig. 2. 3. and 4. Individuals in different stages of growth.
Fig. 5. Young plant, magn. Fig. 6. Perichretial leaf. Fig. 7. Caulineleaf. Fig. 8. Portion of do. to show
the reticulation. Fig. 9. Capsule. Fig. 10. Young calyptra. • Fig. 11. Calyptra fallen from a perfect capsule.
Fig. 12. Inside view of an operculum, to shpw the stria?, which are thé impressions of the teeth.
Figy 13. Capsule with the annulus. Fig. 14. Operculum. Fig. 15. The annulus.. Fig. 16. ïh e seeds.
Fig. 17. Male plant. Fig. 18. Succulent filament. Fig. 19. Anther. Fig. 20. Teeth of the peristome.
All from Fig. 5. more or less magnified.
Scarcely any moss is more abundant than the Funaria hygrometica, and I think to have heard an eminent botanist
and traveller observe that he, considered it one of the most generally diffused plants upon, the.surface of the
globe. It is certain that the FunariaJlavicans of Michaux, specimens of which I have received from, the author
himself, is the same as our plant here figured, and I have in my Herbarium individuals gathered in the West Indies.
Mohr mentions having in his possession specimens from the Cape of Good Hope, as well as from Madeira, and
he thinks that the F. Hispaniola (Smith, MSS.) noticed in the Flora Britannica is not a different species. On
the continent, reaching even as far north as Lapland, as well as with us, it grows in a great variety of situations,
in neglected paths, elevated heaths and hedge-banks, preferring however a light soil. On old walls and buildings
of various kinds it is frequent, and flourishes well where any thing has been burnt the preceding year : so that in
forests where charcoal has been made, and in fields where bricks have been burned, this little plant springs up,
profusely where scarcely any other would find a sufficiency of nourishment. •
As a species it cannot be confounded either with F. Hibernica or F. Muhlenbergii, all that are at present
known as natives of this country ; for, with regard to the F. Templetoni of Engl. Bot. it must be removed from
1 this genus, since it has decidedly but a single peristome. Nothing however is more clear than that our F. hygrometrica
possesses a double one, notwithstanding that Palisot de Beauvois has denied its existence, first, I believe,
in the Flore d'Oware et de Benin, and afterwards in his Prodrome d ’Ætheo'game, where speaking of the, operculum
he says that it is “ court, presque plane, portant à sa surface inférieure l’empreinte des dents prise par Hed-
wig e t par Bridel pour des cils.” If such were thé case, it seems wonderful how Hed wig should be so deceived as
to figure both teeth and cilia!—and I myself have had no difficulty in discovering, besides the impression of the
teeth in the operculum, a true double peristome in the mouth, of the capsule.
The genus Funaria, as far as can be pronounced frofti the few species with which we are acquainted, seems to
be founded in nature. Like Bartramia, .however, it has an oblique mouth, to the capsule. The essential character
consists in the outer teeth being oblique, and the inner composed of sixteen cilia, which lie flat over the orifice
o f thé capsule, and do not alternate with the outer teeth, but are opposite to, them. The calyptra resembles that
o f Gymnostomumpyriforme ; and. one species, F. Muhlenbergii, Mr. Turner has well observed, bears at first sight
no small degree of resemblance to that moss, especially in the young state.
It was first named Koelreutera. by Hedwig ; but since that name was preoccupied in the Genera Plantartim,
Schreber called it Funaria. .Palisot de Beauvois, in his Prodrome d'Ætheogame, has it under the appellation ot
Stréphédie.
The twisted stalk of this, is, as the name implies, an hygrometer. .