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PTEROGONIUM Smithii.
2 Lfl.
CurlinOg WingO- m' oss.
CRYPTOGAMIA Musci.
G en. Char. Caps, oblong, from a lateral scaly sheath.
F r in g e simple, of 16 linear upright teeth. V e i l generally
hairy.
Spec. Char. Stems creeping, much branched. Branches
pinnate, incurved by drying. Leaves entire. Sheath
pearly as long as the fruitstalk.
Syn. Pterogonium Smithii. Swartz, in Schrad. Journ.
ann. 1800, 173. Sm. F I . B r i t . 1 2 7 1 .
Hypnum Smithii. D icks . Crypt, fa s c . 2. 10. t. 5 . f . 4.
D r . P I . 19. W i th . 851. H u ll. 270. Hedw. Sp.
M u s e . 264. t. 68. f . 5— 7. Sm. T o u r , v. 3. 2 3 4 .
D i llw . T r . o f L in n . Soc. v. 6 . 183.
Muscus squamosus filicinus &c. M ich . Gen. 114. n. 98.
H a v in g just been studying this moss on the trees of Italy,
by singular good fortune I met with it, soon after landing in
England, on a tree by a small inn on Barham downs, Kent,
though without fructification. Mr. Dillwyn has since gathered
jt in that neighbourhood, and even near Walthamstow, and
Mr. Groult near Weymouth. Mr. Sowerby has received specimens
from both these gentlemen.
It is perennial, and bears fruit in the spring. The stems
form broad creeping patches, and are much branched, the
branches thrice pinnate, leafy, depressed, wiry and tough,
curling back elastically when dry. Leaves of a full unpolished
gras* green, imbricated, sheathing, roundish, obtuse, concave,
entire, beardless, with one rib, chiefly observable at the
base. Sheaths lateral, pale, awlshaped, their inner scales hair-
pointed. Fruitstalk scarcely longer than the sheath, erect,
yellowish, twisted at the top when dry. Capsule upright and
straight, ovate or almost cylindrical, smooth, red-brown, contracted
at the mouth, and fringed with 16 little white linear
deciduous teeth. Lid conical, oblique. Veil yellow and shining,
clothed with erect yellow hairs.
See the other British Pterogonium, v, lfi. t. 1085.