[ 1273 ]
DICRANUM subulatum.
Axel-leaved Fork-moss.
j b i .
CRYPT0GAM1A Musci.
Gen. Char. Caps, oblong. Fringe of 16 flat, cloven
teeth, a little inflexed.
S pec. Char. Stem simple. Leaves slender-awlshaped,
leaning one way, dilated at the base., Capsule
ovate, slightly furrowed, drooping.
Syn. Dicranum subulatum. Hedw. Sp. Muse. 128.
t. 34. f . 1— 5. Sm. FI. Brit. 1206.
S p e c im e n s of this moss gathered at the village of Rath-
mines near Dublin by Dr. Whittley Stokes, and sent to Mr.
Turner, are our authority for introducing it as indigenous
among us. They have been compared with original fpeci-
mens of Hedwig, the only author who has described the Di-
crauum. suhdatum.
This species is annual, ripening its fruit in the autumn.
Stems erect, simple, straight, leafy, blackish, from a quarter
to half an inch in height. Leaves dull brownish or yellowish
green, curved to one side, thick set, of a very slender awl-
shaped figure, acute, single-ribbed, broadest at the base, entire.
Stalk capillary, red, somewhat more than half an inch
high. Capsule cylindrical inclining to ovate, curved and a
little drooping, when old dark brown and obscurely furrowed;
at least so we have found it in some specimens, but on examination
of others, this last character does not seem to be constant.
Fringe red. Lid awl-shaped, curved, as long as the
capsule. The fruit has nothing of the urn-like figure of D.
varium and rufescens.