GYMNOS TOMUM ovatum.
Hairy-leaved Beardless-moss.
CRYPTOGAMIA Musci.
Gen. Char. Caps, without a fringe. Lid deciduous.
Veil separating entire from the base.
Spec. Char. Leaves ovate, obtuse, entire, concave,
tipped with a bristle. Capsule ovate.
Syn. Gymriostomum ovatum. Hedw. Sp. Muse. 31.
Crypt, v. 1. 16. t. 6. Sm. FI. Brit. 1160. Sibth.
274. Turn. Muse. Hib. 9.
Bryum ovatum. Dicks. Crypt, fasc. 2. 4. H. Sice,
fasc. 3. 20. With. 811. Hull. 256. Relh. 424.
Abbot. 240.
Muscus coronatus minimus, foliolis et capitulis oblongis
in pediculis brevissimis. Moris, v. 3. 631. sect. 15.
t. 7 . / . 18.
F r e q u e n t enough on dry banks and mud walls, bearing
fruit in April and May, though long overlooked or confounded
with others of its genus. Bobart however gathered and
published it in the 3d volume of Morison, which he edited ;
but his, herbarium alone, which I have examined for the purpose,
could determine what he meant.
The plant is annual, growing in patches. Stem very short,
always simple. Leaves light green, single-ribbed, ovate, or
obovate, obtuse, concave, entire, each tipped with a conspicuous
white bristle. Fruitstalk solitary, with a reddish
pellucid bulb at its base, upright, twisted when dry. Capsule
ovate, smooth, reddish brown, a little lengthened at the base,
abrupt, but not dilated, at the summit. Lid flattish, with a
nearly straight awlshaped beak, almost equal to its own length.
Veil of a rusty brown, splitting up at one side.