D I C R.A N U M purpureum.
Purple-stalked Fork-moss.
CRYPTOGAMIA Musci.
Gen. Char. Caps, oblong. Fringe o f 16 flat, cloven
teeth, a little inflexed.
Spec. Char. Stem forked. Leaves lanceolate; twisted
when dry. . Capsule elliptical, at length deeply
furrowed. Lid conical.
Syn. D i c r a n u m p u r p u r e u m . Hedw. Sp. Muse. 1 3 6 .
t. 3 6 . Sm. FI. B rit. 1 2 1 7 . Sibth. 2 8 1 . Turn.
M u s e . Hib . 7 2 . Winch, v. 1 . 1 0 3 .
Bryum purpureum. Huds. 4 8 2 . Hull. 2 5 4 .
B . tenue stellatum, setis purpureis. D ill. Muse. 3 8 6 .
t. 4 9 . / . 5 1 .
B , p e r a n g u s t i s f o l i i s e t c a u l i c u l i s , f o l i i s c r e h r i o r i b i i s
e t c i r c a s u m m i t a t e s m a g i s c o n g e s t i s , c a p i t u l i s
e r e c t i s e s u r c u l i s a n n o t i n i s e g r e d i e n t i b u s , p e d i c u l i s
p u r p u r e i s . lla ii Syn. 9 9 .
Mnium purpureum. Linn. Sp. PI. 1 5 7 5 . With. 8 0 2 .
Relh. 4 1 7 . Abbot. 2 3 3 .
ß . B r y u m t e n u e . D ick s. Crypt, fa s c . 3 . 8 . With. 8 2 8 .
jHull. 2 6 2 ' ; b u t n o t o f W e b e r .
B . purpureum ß . Huds. 4 8 2 ; excluding synonyms.
T o p s of walls, gravelly heaths and banks, or rotten wood,
glow in the spring with the copious crimson stalks of this very
common moss, whose stems axe perennial, not annual, and are
forked, tufted, and clothed with bright green, spreading,
ovato-lanceolate, entire, acute, but not bearded, leaves. These
have each a strong mid-rib, and their lower part is slightly revolute.
By drying they become twisted. Fruitstalks solitary,
mostly from the forks between the young shoots, an inch high,
very beautiful and shining, sheathed at the base. Capsule
nearly erect, elliptical, shining, at first even, but by drying
or age becoming marked with a few very deep furrows, when
also the base is contracted. Lid conical, oblique, one fourth as
long as the capsule. Teeth red, cloven beyond their middle.
Bryum tenue, communicated by Mr. Dickson, appears to us
a small or starved variety; see Jig. 2.