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HYPNUM polyanthos.
Thread-shaped Feather-moss.
CRYPTOGAMI/t Musci.
G en. Char. Caps, ovate-oblong, from a lateral scaly
sheath. Outer fringe o f 16 teeth, dilated at the base:
inner a variously-toothed membrane. Ceil smooth.
Spec. Char. Stem creeping, much branched, round.
Leaves lanceolate, taper-pointed, imbricated, erect,
without ribs. Capsule erect. Lid pointed.
Syn. Hypnum polyanthos. Sckreb. Lips. 97. Sin. FI.
Brit. 1278. Turn. Muse. Hib. 137.
H. filiforme. Huds. 497.
H. filicifolium. Linn.Mant. 2. 310.
H. filifolium. With. 862. Hull. 273.
H. sericeum ramosius et tenuius, capsulis acuminatis.
Dill. Muse. 327. t. 42. f . 62. Herb. Dill.
H. repens trichoides terrestre viridius minus, capitulis
cernuis, minus tumidis- Rail Syn, 84.
Leskea polyantha. Hedw. Sp. Muse. 229, Crypt.
v. 4. 4. t. 2.
L. filiformis. Sibth. 303.
A FREQUENT species about rotten wood and old trees,
bearing capsules in the early spring.
Stems creeping, entangled, in dense patches, throwing up
many slender, cylindrical, leafy, often pinnated, branches.
Leaves with a silky gloss, light yellowish green, small, imbricated
every way, rarely inclined a little to one side, lanceolate,
broad, entire, ending in a long taper point, but without
any rib or vein. Their reticulations are oblong and linear.
Sheaths numerous, long, pale; their leaves long-pointed.
Fruitstalk half an inch or more in length, erect, red, spiral
when dry. Capsule upright, cylindrical inclining to an elliptical
figure, rather narrow mouthed, red-brown, smooth.
Lid convex, with a longish beak, as figured bv Dillenius;
Mr. Turner justly observes that German specimens have a
shorter lid, as represented by Hedwig, and we find it so in
Swiss ones, yet there seems no other difference. Its length
varies with us.
In the first edition of Hudson filiciforme was printed by
mistake forjilijorme; hence arose the above confusion of names,
JTovjjSo 6. PubTisML b y J a tS o w erb y, H erndon,.