2 3 f
TORTULÂ arlstata.
Short-pointed Screw-moss.
CRYPTOGAMIA Mus ci,
G en. Char. F r in g e simple, o f numerous capillary
teeth, spirally and repeatedly twisted together.
Spec. Char. Stem branched, level-topped. Leaves
oblong, obtuse, with a minute point ; curved inward
and twisted when dry. Capsule cylindrical.
Syn. Tortula aristata. Sm. F t . B r i t . 1261.
Bryum aristatum. D ic k s .. Crypt, f a s c 4 I e* t i l
ĥ 7.
M r . DICKSON found this moss upon walls at Croydon,
and the specimens in our plate are some of his own. Dr. w !
Stokes, as we are told, observed the same at Cullen’s wood
bridge, near Dublin. It is perennial, bearing fruit in the
spring.
The stems are about an inch high, with several level-topped
branches. Leaves palish green, all nearly of equal size, ovate-
oblong, some rather more elongated at the upper part than the
rest; all entire, slightly revolute, keeled, obtuse, with a strong
rib and a very small terminal point; by drying they become
indexed and twisted, not recurved. Fruits talks terminal, crimson,
not an inch high. Capsule erect, when quite ripe cylindrical
and slender, smooth, pale brown, shining, thin and
partly transparent; when young it is slightly ovate. The lid
is awlshaped, curved, red, not quite so long as the capsule.
Fringe falling off early, as in several other species to which this
is most allied.