j r r .
CRYPTOGAMIA Musci.
Gen. Char. Caps, oblong. F r in g e of 16 flat, cloven
teeth, a little inflexed.
Spec. Char. Stem branched. Leaves awlshaped,
keeled, curved to one side. Fruit-stalks solitary,
from a small sheath. Capsule obovate, curved,
furrowed.
Syn. Dicranum fuscescens. Sm. FI. B r i t . 1204. Turn.
Muse. H ib . 60. i. 5. f . 1. W in ch B o t . Guide, 102.
W h e n i first found this moss in 1782 near Edinburgh
(in Rivelston wood if I mistake not) and brought it to London,
no one would allow it to be distinct from D. scoparium, see
v . 5. t. 354. The accurate Schrader has however observed and
distinguished it in Germany, and I did not hesitate to describe
it in FI. Brit. Mr. Turner too has adopted it in his elegant
work on Irish Mosses, and Mr. Winch has favoured us with
specimens from Waskerly park, Durham.
The whole plant is rather smaller than D. scoparium, but
agrees with it in habit, except that the old leaves and capsules
are more apt to assume a brown hue. It differs essentially
from that species in having a furrowed and more obovate
capsule, the stalk of which is sheathed with much fewer and
narrower leaves than in D. scoparium. The leaves of the stem
are also more taper and always perfectly entire in D. fuscescens.
D.Jlagellare differs from it in being smaller, with an upright
capsule, more zigzag-pointed leaves, curled (as Mr. Turner
observes) when dry, and almost entirely destitute of a rib or
nerve.