JDec&h.ber 7'!* 7<930.
2671
HYPNUM polymorphum.
Polymorphous Hypnum.
CRYPTOGAMIA Musci.
Gen. Char. Fryitslalks lateral. Peristome double:
the exterior of 16 teeth ; the interior of a membrane
cut into 16 equal segments, with filiform
processes frequently placed between them. Ca-
lyptra dimidiate.
Spec. Char. Leaves loosely set, squarrose, cordate,
much acuminated, entire; their nerve disappearing
above the middle. Capsule oblongo-
ovate, curved, cernuous. Lid conical, acute.
Syn. Hypnum polymorphum. Hedw. Sp.Musc.t.66.
(nerve omitted). Hook. & Taylor. Muse. Brit,
ed. 2. 179. t. 26.
Hypnum chrysophyllum. Brid. Muse. v.2. t. 2. ƒ 2.
Funch, Deutschl. Moose, t. 4. f . 58. Mong. §
Nestl. n. 731.
I t will be seen from what we have said in our Musco-
logia Britannica, that the present species is a very ambiguous
one, and so closely allied to dwarf specimens of
H . stellalum, that Mr. Arnott considers it to be the same.
It differs, however, in the presence of a nerve : and, having-
compared our British specimens with authentic ones from
Hedwig in Mr. Turner’s Herbarium, we are able to speak
with certainty as to their being the H . polymorphum of
that author.
Stems loosely tufted, slender, branched in a more or less
pinnated manner. Leaves patent and squarrose, from a
broad and cordate base, gradually tapering into a much