[ 1939 ]
P O L Y T R I C H U M rubellum.
Reddish Dwarf Hair-moss.
CRYPTOGAMIA Musci.
G en. Char. O u t e r f r i n g e of 32 or 64 short incurved
teeth : i n n e r a flat undivided membrane. V d l generally
double : the o u t e r hairy.
Spec. Char. " Leaves lanceolate, bluntish, serrated in
the margin and keel. Capsule cylindrical, oblique.
Stem branched.
Syn. Polytrichum rubellum. M e n z . T r . o f L i n n . S o c .
v . 4 . 79. t . l . f 3 . S m . F I . B r i t . 1381. H u l l . 248.
* T u r n . M u s e . H i b . 87.
P. aloides. E h r h . C r y p t . 45.
G a t h e r e d in April 180S, by Mr. G. B. Sowerby, in a
wood at Darent, near Dartford, Kent; a spot celebrated for
affording many rare insects as well as plants, having been
much investigated by the late Mr. Lewin, who for some time
resided there.
The stem of this species is reddish, much more elongated
than in P. aloides, t. 1649, and frequently branched or subdivided.
Indeed the whole plant is taller and larger. Leaves
more curled and twisted when dry, serrated nearly throughout,
as is a great part of their keel. Fruitstalks commonly an inch
and half, sometimes 2 inches, long, twisted, red. Capsule
a little oblique, cylindrical inclining to ovate, its mouth
slightly dilated. Teeth 32. Li'd short, pointed, most conical
when young, as in others of this genus.
Most authors have not distinguished this from P . aloides.