[ 1 8 2 7 ]
/ i f
PO L Y T R IC H UM gracile.
Long-stalked Hair-moss.
C R Y P TO G AM IA Musa.
Gen. Char. Outer fringe of 32 or 64 short incurved
teeth: inner a flat undivided membrane. Veil generally
double : the outer hairy.
S p e c . C h a r . Stem simple. Leaves linear-lanceolate,
somewhat spreading, serrated. Capsule inclining,
ovate, quadrangular, contracted at the base, without
a pedestal. Fringe of thirty-two teeth.
S y n . Polytrichum gracile. Mem. Tr. o f Linn. Soc.
v. 4 . 73. t. 6 . f 3. Sm. FI. Brit. 1374. Hull. 247.
Turn. Muse. Hib. 85.
P. longisetum. Swartz. Muse. Suec. 76 and 103. t. 8.
f 16- _ _ _ _ _ _
S e NT from Ireland by Mr. Templeton, who finds it on both
mountain and lowland bogs, bearing fruit in the middle of
May.
I t is ve ry n e a rly re la ted to P . attenuatum, t. 1198, a t least
in g en era l ap p e a ran c e , b u t is u su a lly som ew h a t sm a lle r. Its
e ssen tia l differences from th a t species c o n sist in th e ovate form
o f th e c ap su le , w h ic h as it rip en s b e com e s so tu rg id as p a rtly
to o b lite ra te th e a n g le s, b u t m o re e specially in th e te e th o f the
frin g e b e in g o n ly a b o u t 3 2 , in ste ad o f 6 4 . T h e lid is also
m o re c o n ic a l, an d less dep ressed , a n d th e leaves m o re erect
w h e n d ry . T h e fru it- s ta lk varies in le n g th from 2 in c h e s to
4, a n d in som e o f D r . S w a rtz ’s sp e c im en s is very z ig z a g ,
w h ic h we have n o t se en in B ritish o r I ris h o n e s.
It appears from the herbarium of Linnaeus that this species
is the No. 395 of his Flora Laponica; but doubtless he confounded
it, like every body else till lately, with P . commune.