2888.
GRIMMIA orbicularis.
Round-fruited Grimmia.
CR YPTOGAMIA Musci.
Gen. Char, Fruitstalk terminal. Peristome simple,
of 16 entire or perforated (rarely cloven) equidistant
teeth. Calyptra mitriform.
Spec. Char. Stems densely tufted, branched. Leaves
crowded, oblong-lanceolate, hair tipped. Fruit-
stalk curved. Capsule drooping, roundish, faintly
striated. Lid very short, conical. Teeth of the
peristome perforated, trifid at the apex. Calyptra
dimidiate.
Syn. Grimmia orbicularis. Bruch in lit.
G. africana. Arnott in lit.
Dryptodon cribrosus. Bridel Bryol. Europ. v 1.
198.
D. obtusus. Brid. ?
F O U N D on Ormeshead in 1826 by the writer of this
article, and subsequently by F. K. Eagle, Esq., on St. Vincent’s
Rocks. For recent specimens from the latter place we
are indebted to Mr. Thwaites, who gathered them in March
1843.
So great is the resemblance between this moss and G. pul-
vinata, that many bryologists have regarded them as varieties
of one species. An attentive examination of the two will
however show that they are really distinct. They grow together
in the same localities (on limestone rocks), and are
sometimes intermixed in the same tuft, each preserving its
proper character. The stems grow in compact round tufts,
and are sparingly branched. They are of a darker hue than