■I
wholly wanting. With the calyptra we. were unacquainted. An anonymous author in the Botanische ZtitmW
s ta teT '.fll l ‘ f be , h,le Wahlenberg describes it as lateral. Both are r ight; for if examined in a young
S n ‘ i ' ] be * und.e?tlre i aftenrards, as the capsule advances to maturity, it splits on one side for the create?
ch inm « !^ eng|Ü1' b,e,come? dlmldlaUj- . Thls we to be the case with some o f the Splachm; so tlfat this
s t iW fro th 1 W0U d • lnfluenpe U5,ln beeping this plant, which has so much the habit o f a Splachmm, di-
" el e 11 n° ‘ tbaf. the teeth are not octo-gemimti. There are sixteen d i s t i l t equidistant
f i T h S hT ng “n ,cvldant l,ne’ ?nd ave" a sIi?ht furrow down the centre, but it is never split nor perste
™?I t „,ffiHe„It l ï aJeUbeen lnrd u c ed *° contlnue I “ the g“ “5 We ism, with the characters o f which, as they now
stand, it sufficiently well accords; yet I am aware there are many who will be disposed to make of it a new genus
£dlv in T e nümhe É S " * ' * Horf ? huch- with it agrees, 1st; in general habit and structure!
Sffi 111 tbe ''•timber of teeth (although these teeth in Systylium are geminate or split down the middle), and 3dly
n a gi eat measure in the nature of the columella; for this has, from a truncated summit, a rather Ion« apiculus
otterwis^ready to feU off' opercu does frequently retain the lid where that part is free at the margins and
M f etr e-Vi>h]S plant and ï 6 « “*“ >» of Hedwig has been already mentioned SmBiuthn. Un i tli l”e r. oQ pJ la chnoidj Mro s1s es mfavm in dVeee d7 ,hce™re h e™ nnrirw' lu 1 xieQW1§ na»sh nD etetrn alre_aduy_ m_e_n_ti_o_n_ed_ rbbyy SSiirr JJaanniieess
smith. Other Splachnoid Mosses may indeed here be noticed, with which the TV. splachnoides agrees in many par-
hculars, but not lot m L the . . I W structure W W of P the L peristome:.
these are, Splachnum scabrisetum and Spl. Frcelichiamem the
oystylium splachnoides,achnoidcs. and Tavlorm Tayloria smmffîmffîm
splachnoides.
Our fTcKsia s^ncABoidcs has always been considered an extremely rare inhabitant o f Great Britain, confined
hr?” d V P l S l tbe mountains in Scotland. Mr. Dickson gives generally, as a station for it, <• turf
I ih™ri * 0tTb A PS' c ^ r' Ge°rge Do" f0Und k on Ben kiwers, and hi?son Mr. David Don, the present
D branan to the Linmcan Society, gathered it on Ben Lomond. Still no particular habitat, where a botanist
f “ C fUra P g,° andfdnP. & was made known, until Mr. Trevelyan and myself, in company with the students
nhaailt? wwaavy u, pn BReanl LT a“wSe r0s.f ^ Trhifs Ssucc e1s8s2 e3n' cfoounrnadg e‘d5 WMrl. fA?wrn hootts ^t>o gpola icne ss enaeracrh 1o1,f6 it about “a mLoonchth- nlaa-tcear t(, Jaublyo)u t9
and he again, along with Mr. Grevllle and myself, found that in certain situations the plant was to be met with
throughout a very great extent of the range of the Breadalbane mountains, which we explored in August • at which
season the plant is in the highest state of perfection. These situations are muddy declivities, tolerably’firm how
ever to the feet on walking upon them | over which the water of a spring trickles in small quantity*. Here, amongst
a few bcirpi, tufts of Dicranum wrens and Hypnum aduncum, this Moss is almost sure to be found. Still the oli-
server must look attentively to the ground; for the moss is not one which, like the Dicranum wrens just mentidned
distinguishes itself by the brightness of its hue, nor does it rise much above the surface of the mud. Three or four
surface °f St6mS 816 frequent y lmbedded in the soil; while the rush, of a dark green colour, forms a nearly level
The station where we gathered this plant in the greatest prolusion was at the foot of Ben Cruaban, between
Uraigalleach and Mealgreadha, where many square yards were literally covered with it in the finest state of fructification
; affording a spectacle, I apprehend, such as few museologists have had the opportunity of witnessing
Un the continent, TVeissia splachnoides seems to be of rare occurrence. I t has, however, been met with* in
Norway, Lapland and Sweden ; and has lately been found by M. Funck on the Alps of Salzburg.
* It is this constant ci io doubt, which causes the procumbent base that is always observable in the si