G-R I M M I A Browniana,
Brownian Grimmia.
CRYPTOGAMIA Musd.
Gen. Char. F r in g e simple, o f 16 teeth, broadest at
their base. F low ers terminal. V e il cylindrical.
Spec. Char. R a d i c a l l e a v e s l i n e a r , f l a t ; f l o r a l ones
o v a t e , c o n c a v e ; a l l d o t t e d . C a p s u l e e l l i p t i c a l , e r e c t ,
s m o o t h . S t e m n o n e .
Syn. B r y u m B r o w n i a n u m . D ic k s . C r y p t, fa s c . 4. 7.
t. 10. / . 16.
O r t h o t r i c h u m B r o w n i a n u m . Sm , F I. B r it. 1269.
FEELING it a duty to correct every error of which I am
convinced, I take the earliest opportunity afforded me by
numerous perfect specimens of this moss, gathered by Mr.
W . Brunton on sand-stone rocks at Lord Grantley’s lakes
near Ripon, to remove it from Orthotrichum to Grimmia, to
which its agreement in many respects with the species in the
last plate has finally determined me. Having previously seen
but one very poor specimen, and an incomplete drawing, I
was led chiefly by the ribbed veil, which I still know only
from that drawing, to suppose it an Orthotrichum, for such a
veil is scarcely found in any other genus.
The root is small, fibrous, and probably annual. Stem none.
Radical leaves few, erect, linear, very narrow, a little dilated
upwards, obtuse, entire, ribless: those which form a perichce-
tium, at the base of the fruit-stalk, are short, ovate, acute,
with a central rib: all the leaves are of a pale olive brown,
pellucid, dotted or reticulated. Stalk solitary, red. Capsule
erect, ovate, smooth, brown. Lid short, acute, oblique when
at maturity. Fringe red, the teeth cohering in pairs.