T R IG HO STO M UM canescens.
Common Hoary Fringe-moss.
CRYPTOGAMIA Musa.
Gen. Char. Caps, oblong. F r in g e of 32 capillary,
straightish teeth, approximated or united in pairs.
Spec. Char. Leaves ovato-lanceolate, with a central
channel, but no nerve, and a pellucid rough
point. Capsule ovate, stem erect, with upright
branches.
Syn. Trichostomum canescens. Hedw. Sp. M u s e . 111.
Crypt, v. 3. 5. t. 3. Sm. F I . B r i t . 1242. Sibth.
283. T u rn . Muse. H ib . 39- /F in ch v. 1. 104.
Bryum hypnoides. Huds. 480, ct.
B. canescens. Hoffm . Germ. v. 2. 41.
B. hvpnoides, hirsutie canescens, vulgare. D i l l .
Muse. 368. t. 47. ƒ. 27 ?
B. trichoides, erectis capitulis, lanuginosum. R a i i
Syn. 97- . ,
VERY common on open dry sandy or mountainous heaths and
moors, bearing capsules in February or March, but not frequently.
When moist the leafy branches are of a yellowish green; but when
dry they assume, as Dillenius observes, a hoary aspect, in consequence
of the pellucid rough hairs which terminate each leaf,
and become, in that state, white and opaque. Hedwig points
out the central channel of the leaf, which resembles a nerve, or
cluster of vessels, but is not such, as a character of this species,
and we find it so, though some of Dillenius’s own leaves appeared
to us to have an actual nerve. On the other hand, T. ericoides,
t. 1991, described by all authors as having a nerve, proves to have
none, (see our plate and description,) and is therefore perhaps
justly considered by Hedwig as a variety of the present, differing
only in its darker colour, and numerous short lateral branch?®
ranged closely along the main shoots.