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JUNGERMANNIA excisa.
Notch-leaved Jungermannia.
CR YPTOGAMIA Hepaliccc.
Gen. Char. Male flowers sessile. Anthers stalked.
Capsule on a stalk, rising from a sheath, of 4 valves.
Seeds attached to elastic filaments.
Spec. Char. Creeping, prostrate, scarcely divided.
Leaves spreading, almost square, deeply emargi-
nate. Sheaths terminal, pale, oblong; plaited
and toothed at the margin.
Syn. Jungermannia excisa. Dicks. Crypt, fa s c . 3,
11. t. 8 . ƒ. 7- W ith . 879. Hull. 280. Hooker
B r it. J u n g . t. 9-
C o m m u n ic a t e d by Mr. Turner, from Holt heath, Norfolk,
where it was observed to abound, in wet places, by the Rev. Mr.
R. B. Francis. Mr. Hooker found it plentiful near Norwich and
Yarmouth, on hedge hanks and heathy ground, as well as in the
Highlands of Scotland.
Though one of the smallest of its genus, J. excisa often composes
scattered patches several inches wide. Each plant lies
prostrate, creeping, and firmly attached to the earth, by numerous
fibrous roots, being usually simple and about half an inch long,
sometimes branched, or at least divided.. The leaves are closely
imbricated in two rows, nearly square, having a broad base ; but
the extremity has a deep sinus, or acute notch, between two short,
distant, bluntish points. The edges are quite entire, There is
a variety with more dilated, crumpled, and irregularly shaped
foliage, apparently from luxuriance. The sheaths are terminal,
solitary, large, oblong, irregularly furrowed or plaited lengthwise,
especially at the summit, where they are consequently much contracted,
as well as irregularly and sharply toothed. The fruitstalk
is shortish. Capsule rather small. The whole plant often assumes
a reddish, or a dark brown, hue, but the pale and large
sheaths are very conspicuous. Mr. Hooker observed the two
uppermost leaves to have generally three teeth.