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P H A S C U M piliferum.
Bearded Earth-moss.
CRYPTOGAMIA Musci.
Gen. Char. Capsule ovate, without any separate lid,
deciduous. Veil minute, deciduous.
Spec. Char. Stem simple or branched. Leaves ovate-
oblong, erect, tipped with a bristle. Capsule globose,
upright.
Syn. Phascum piliferum. Schreb. Phase. 8. t. 1.
f . 6 — 1 0 . Sm. FI. Brit. 1 1 5 1 . Hedw. Sp.
Muse. 2 0 . Dicks. Crypt, fasc. 2 . 1. Hull. 2 5 2 .
F o u n d in barren places among short grass. Mr. Dickson
first observed it near London. Mr. G. Don sent it from near
Forfar in North Britain. It is annual, bearing capsules in
the early spring, after which it entirely disappears till the
following year. Schreber says it prefers a clay soil.
The plants are each furnished with a short, simple or divided
stem, and form broad dense tufts of a lightish green or
reddish colour, rendered somewhat hoary by the hair-like
points of their foliage. Each leaf is ovate, or ovate-oblong,
entire, keeled, upright, tipped with a slender bristle. When
dry the leaves fold closer together, with a slight twist, but are
not curled. Capsule solitary, central, on a short stalk bulbous
at the base, upright, globular, crowned with the veil in
many of our specimens which are not quite arrived at maturity.