G R IM M IA homomalla.
Pale Curled Grimmia.
CRYPTOGAMIA Musci.
Gen. Char. Fringe simple, o f 16 teeth, broadest at
their base. Flowers terminal. Veil cylindrical.
Spec. Char. Leaves bristle-shaped, curled to one side,
dilated at the base. Capsule upright, ovate. Lid
conical. Teeth o f the fringe in pairs.
Syn. Grimmia homomalla. Sm. FI. B rit. 1194.
Didymodon homomallum. Hedw. Sp. Muse. 105. i. 23.
f 1—7.
Bryum pallidum. With. 818, without the synonyms.
Hull. 258.
F I R S T observed by M r . Griffith in N o rth W a le s . M r. Turner
favoured u s w ith spe c imens from Beddgelart a t th e foot of
Sn ow d o n . I t bears fru it in th e sum m e r, like IVeisia hetero-
malla in o u r la st pla te , to which it is so ne arly allied that we
c an h a rd ly find a specific c h a ra c te r be tween th em . T h e leaves
h owever in th e pre sent mo ss are m u ch m o re curved or curled
towa rd o n e side, an d o f a still p aler m o re yellowish green.
C ap su le ra th e r more ova te , an d scarcely a t all curved. In the
frin g e resides th e c h ie f d istin c tio n , th e teeth o f th is species
b e in g ap p roximated in p a irs, th o u g h still perfectly distinct at
th e ir base. T h is ap p ro x im a tio n c o n stitu te s th e sole distinction
o f H e dw ig ’s g en u s Didymodon, some o f th e species o f which
h ave 16 te e th , o th e rs 32. T h e la tte r ran g e themselves most
u n e x c ep tio n ab ly in Trichostomum, th e c om b in a tio n or separatio
n o f each p a ir o f te e th a t th e ir base p ro v in g b y experience
o f n o solid generic im p o rta n c e ; and th a t th o se w ith 16 teeth
o u g h t n o t to be separated from Grimmia, is evinced by the two
p lan ts o f w h ich we are tre a tin g , whose whole stru c tu re and
h a b it are so m u c h a lik e , th a t it is difficult to distinguish betw
e en th em .