HYPNUM medium.
Long-headed Feather-moss.
CRYPTOGAMIA Musd.
G en . Ch a r . Caps, ovate-oblong, from a lateral scaly
sheath. Outer fringe of 16 teeth, dilated at the
b a s e : inner a variously-toothed membrane. Veil
smooth.
S pec. Char. Stem creeping. Branches scattered.
Leaves ovato-lanceolate, acute, single-nerved, imbricated.
Capsule cylindrical, slightly elliptical,
erect.
Syn. Hypnum medium. Dicks. Crypt. fasc. 2. 12.
Sm. FI. Brit. 1281. W ith 847. Hull. 269.
H. trichodes, capsulis oblongis in setis brevioribus.
Dill. Muse. 331. t. 42. f . 65.
Leskea polycarpa. Hedw. Sp. Muse. 225.
M r . DICKSON discovered this Hypnum on the trunks of
trees in Scotland, and Mr. Templeton has observed it in Ireland
upon stones. Our specimens, the only English ones we
have ever seen, were gathered by the Rev. Dr. Abbot about
the roots of young oaks in Kempston wood Bedfordshire,
bearing ripe fruit in the winter months.
The stems form perennial intricate patches, and divide irregularly
into many slender branches, which are also procumbent,
and which are sometimes thicker in their upper part
than any where else. Leaves of a bright but full green, not
shining, imbricated every way, small, ovato-lanceolate, acute,
entire, concave, with a strong nerve. Stalks very numerous,
erect, capillary, not an inch high. Capsule erect, pale brown,
long, cylindrical, a little swelling, sometimes curved at the
top, but not drooping. Lid conical, short and blunt. Inner
fringe with very slender uniform teeth, twice as long as the
outer.
K