6o- [ 1596 ]
B U X BA U MI A . aphylla.
Naked-stalked Buxbaumia.
CRYPTOGAMIA Musci.
Gen. Char. Capsule ovate, oblique, gibbous on one side.
Outer f r in g e obsolete: inner membranous, plaited.
Spec. Char. Capsule on a granulated stalk, rising from
a hairy bulb.
S yn. Buxbaumia aphylla. L in n . Sp. PL 1.570. T u rn .
M u s e. H ib . 104. Wade P l . R a r . H ib . cum Ic.
F I . D a n . t. 44. E h rh . Pliyt. 10.
B. caulescens. Schmid. R u xb . ‘25. t. l . f 1— 25.
Muscus capillaceus aphyllos, capitulo crasso bivalvi.
B u x b . Cent. 2. 8. t. 4 . ƒ. 2. D i l l . Muse. 477.
t. 68./. 5.
T h i s curious moss, discovered by Buxbaum near Astracan,
and since found in Sweden, Germany and Switzerland, was
first mentioned as a native of Ireland by Dr. Wade. No one
had observed it in Britain, though it might reasonably be expected
here, till Mr. William Jackson Hooker, a young naturalist
of great promise, brought me growing specimens,
towards the end of December 1805, from a plantation at
Sprowston, not 3 miles from Norwich on the borders of
Moushold heath, where the soil is of a turfy and sandy nature.
About half a score plants only have as yet been detected,
though some of the most acute botanists of my acquaintance
have been at the spot.
The root is presumed to be annual, and bears a bulb.or
knob clothed with brown hairs, which are .perhaps equivalent
to leaves, and among which the stamina are naturally to be
expected, but no one has yet observed them. From this bulb
rises a solitary, red, granulated, simple stalk, half an inch or
more in height, bearing an elliptical oblique shining capsule,
more or less green' or red, the upper side of which shows the
seeds through a semitransparent coat, the cavity in which they
are lodged Being oblique and lateral. The veil we have not
seen. The lid is red, conical, short and obtuse. Inner fringe
a plaited undivided membrane; outer, as figured by Hedwig,
of 16 short blunt teeth, which look like the lacerated remains
of the lid, and which do not appear in our specimens.
Schmidel’s exquisite figures countenance our ideas on this
subject.