Radix parva, füsca.
Caules dense cæspitosi, vîx bï-trilîneares, sîmplicësj vel
innovatione hic illic inferne divisi.
Folia ovata, valde concava, integerrima, apiculata,
nervo excurrente instructa, siccitate crispata, mas-
culis laxe, fructiferis arcte imbricata et bulbillum
quasi formantia ; Color pallide viridis; Textura
reticulata, areolis ovatis, Jig. 8.
Perigonialia reliquis simillima, sed minus concava.
Perichætialia reliquis parum minora, magis concava,
vaginata.
Fructificatio dioica.
Masc. disciformis; Antberæ, ß g . 19. ovato-ellipticfe,
subpedunculatoe, apice déhiscentes; fila succu-
lenta claviformia, articulata,j%\ 18. alba, pellu-
cida, interne granulata, granulis minutis, viridibus.
Feminea terminalis. Seta sub-biuncialis, flavescens,
infernc erectiuscula, superne incurva, atque va-
rio modo flëxuosa, früctu maturo, erècta.
Capsula obovato-pyriformis, oblique inclinata, subcer-
nua, basin versus attenuata, longitudinalitér Sulcata,
læte viridis, demurn aurantiaca, ore contracta
rubro.
Annulus simplex.
Operculum conicum, obtusum, fulvum, basi rubra,
intus striata, striis obliquis.
Calyptra, junior, Jig. 10. e basi quadrangulari subu-
lata, atque apiculata, deinde basi infiata, hinc
longitudinalitér fissa. -
Peristomium duplex, ß g . £0. Ext. dentibus sedeçim,
rubris, transversiin slriatis atque denticulatis :
Int. ciliis sedeciin flavescentibus, similiter stri-
atis..
Semina minuta, sphèrica, fusça.
Fig. 1. Tuft of the natural size of F. hygrometrica. Ft
Fig. 5. Young plant, magn. Fig. 6. Perichælial leaf
the reticulation. Fig. 9 . Capsule. Fig. 10. Young
sole. Fig. 12. Inside view of an operculum, to sh
Fig. 13. Capsule with the annulus. Fig. 14. Opei
Fig. 17. Male plant. Fig. 18. Succulent filament.
All from Fig. 5. more or less magnified.
Root small, brown.
Stems densely casspitose, scarcely two lines Ion» simple,\
or here and there below divided by an innovation.
Leaves ovate, very concave, entire, apiculate, furnished
with an excurrcnt nerve, when dry crisped, in
the male plants laxly, in the fructiferous ones
closely imbricated and forming as it were a bulb.
Colour pale green: Texture reticulated, with
ovate areola^ Jig. 8.
Perigonial leaves resembling the rest, but less con-
The Perichjetial ones are smaller than the rest, more
concave, sheathing.
Fructification dioecious.
Male disciform; Anthers, Jig. 19. ovato-elliptical, on
short footstalks, dehiscent at the apex; the succulent
filaments club-shaped, jointed, articulate,
Jig. IS. white, pellucid, granulated within, the
granules minute, green.
Female : Fructification terminal; Fruit-stalk about two
inches long, yellow, below nearly erect,-upward
incurved, and variously flcxuose, but erect on the
fruit being ripe.
Capsule obovato-pyriform, obliquely inclined, subcer-
nuous, attenuated towards the base,longitudinally
striated, deep green, at length almost orange-
coloured, the mouth contracted, red.
Annulus simple.
Operculum conical, obtuse, fulvous, red at the base,
striated within, the strise oblique.
Calyptra, when young, Jig. 10. from a quadrangular
base becoming subulate, and apiculate, afterwards
inflated at the base, on, one side longitu-
-dinally cleft.
Peristome double, Jig. 20. The exterior of sixteen
teeth, red, transversely striated and denticulated :
the interior o f sixteen cilia, which are yellowish,
and in like manner striated.
Seeds minute, spherical, brown.
g . 2 . 3. and 4. Individuals in different stages o f growth.
. Fig. 7. Cauline leaf. Fig. 8. Portion of do. to show
calyptra. Fig. 11. Calyptra fallen from a perfect cap-
ow the strise, which are the impressions o f the teeth,
•culum. Fig. 15. The annulus. Fig. 16. The seeds.
Fig. 19. Anther. Fig. 20. Teeth of the peristome.
- Scarcely any moss is more abundant than the Funaria hygrometica, arid 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 o f the
globe. I t is certain that the FunariaJhrcicans 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
o f various kinds it is frequent, and flourishes w'ell 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. Hibemica 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
this genus, since it has decidedly but a single peristome. Nothing however is more clear than that our FI hygro-
metiica 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'Ætheogame, where speaking o f the operculum
he says that it is “ court, presque plane, portant à sa surface inférieure l’empreinte des dents prise par Hed-
zoig et par Bridelpour des cils.” I f such were the case, it seems wonderful how Hedwig 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 from 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
of the capsule, and do not alternate with the outer teeth, but are opposite to them. The calyptra resembles that
of Gymnostomum p y riforme ; and one species, F. Muhlenbergii, Mr. Turner has well observed, bears a t first sight
no small degree of resemblance to that moss, especially in the young state.
I t was first named Koelreutera by Hedwig; but since that name was preoccupied in the Genera Plantarum,
Schreber called it Funaria. Palisot de Beauvois, in his Prodrome d'Ætheogame, has it under the appellation of
Strépkédie.
Thé twisted stalk o f this is, as the name Implies, an hygrometer.