2759
TORTULA rigida.
Rigid Screw Moss.
CRYPTOGAMIA Musci.
Gen. Char. Fruitstalk terminal. Peristome of 32
spirally twisted teeth. Calyptra dimidiate.
Spec. Char. Stems short, simple. Leaves rigid,
linear-subulate, pointed, incurved, grooved,
nerved and slightly keeled, the margins membranous
and indexed. Capsule oblong, inclined.
Lid subulate.
Syn. Tortula rigida. Turn. Muse. Hib. 43. Hook,
fy Tayl. Muse. Brit. ed. 2. 53. Sm. FI. Brit.
1249.
Barbula rigida. Hedw. St. Cr. v. 1. 65. t. 25?
Schultz in Nov. Act. Cws. v. 11. 196. t. 32?
Web. fy Mohr, FI. Crypt. Germ. 212.
Bryum rigidum. Huds. FI. Angl. 477.
Bryum capitulis erectis, foliis carinatis siccitate
crispis. Neck. Meth. Muse. 193.
R a t h e r frequent on mud walls, and on banks of clay
and chalk, throughout England. Our specimens were
gathered in Cheshire, Nov. 1828.
Stems growing: in patches, firmly rooted in the soil.
Leaves dark shining green, much curled when dry, sometimes
very obtuse, in which state it becomes T. enervis of
authors, the nerve very broad, often reddish, slightly prominent
at the back of the leaf, in some cases inconspicuous,
always concealed on the upper side by a dense covering
of jointed papillae, of an oblong shape, which overspread
the disk of the leaf, except the folded margins; hence it
has been overlooked by Smith, and its existence disputed
by Schultz; but after these papillae have been removed, the