A Synopsis of the British Mosses / Containing Descriptions of All the Genera and Species, (With Localities of the Rarer Ones) Found in Great Britain and Ireland, Based Upon Wilson's "Bryologia Britannica," Schimper's "Synopsis," Etc.

by Charles C. P. Hobkirk

4. PHASCUM. Linn.

Sect. I. (Ephemerum.) Almost stemless, capsule immersed, barren fl. gemmiform at base of, or near to, fertile fl.

a. Growing from a conferva-like thallus, columella fugacious.

23. P. serratum. Schreb. “Stemless, leaves lanceolate, nerveless (?) serrated, connivent; capsule large roundish ovate, sub-sessile.” (Wils.)

Sandy banks or fallows. Spring or Autumn.

var. β. angustifolium. “Leaves narrower, linear-lanceolate, obscurely toothed; caps. smaller.”

24. P. cohærens. Hed. Stemless, very minute; l. ovate-lanceolate, keeled, erect, nerved to apex, and serrated about half way from summit; capsule immersed sub-sessile.

On the ground. Winter.

25. P. tenerum. Bruch. Inconspicuous; l. broad ovate-lanceolate, slightly denticulate at apex, very flaccid; caps. small, pale yellow, calyptra conical. Bry. Europ. vol. I.

On the mud of dried-up pools. Winter.

Weald of Sussex, Mr. Mitten.

26. P. sessile. B. & S. Very minute, almost stemless; l. lanceolate-subulate, denticulate more than two-thirds from summit, rigid, with an almost excurrent nerve; caps. sessile small, rounded, brownish: monoicous.

Clay and chalky heaths, rare. Autumn, Winter.

var. β. stenophyllum. l. shorter, linear-lanceolate, slightly serrulate.

27. P. recurvifolium. Dicks. Minute, st. almost none; l. lingulate, rarely linear-lanceolate, erect, frequently recurved, denticulate at the apex, with a strong generally excurrent nerve; caps. roundish ovate, nearly sessile.

Heaths and fallows. Autumn, Winter.

b. Mature plants without confervoid shoots.

28. P. muticum. Schreb. Minute, almost stemless; l. convolute, broadly ovate, tapering pointed, concave, toothed above, nerved nearly to the apex; caps. round, reddish, erect, sub-sessile.

Moist banks and fallows. Autumn, Spring.

var. β. minus, leaves entire.

29. P. triquetrum. Spruce. Almost stemless; l. in three rows, lowest minute ovate nerveless, three uppermost (perichætial) cucullate, pointed, obovate, keeled, margins reflexed, denticulate above, nerve excurrent; caps. spherical, horizontal or drooping, pedicel long, slender, suddenly bent near its union with the capsule.

Cliffs, Sussex coast. III.

Sect. II. Barren fl. axillary, antheridia naked.

30. P. Floerkeanum. Web. & M. Almost stemless, very minute; leaves broadly ovate, tapering to a point, lower ones small nerveless, upper ones larger nerve excurrent, margins reflexed; caps. ovate-spherical, shortly beaked, immersed with sub-conical curved-pointed calyptra.

Clay or chalky fields, rare. IX.–XI.

31. P. rectum. Sm. Stem short; l. closely crowded, erecto-patent, elliptic-lanceolate pointed with an excurrent nerve, often reddish, margins recurved; caps. exserted, roundish ovoid, on a longish straight pedicel.

Fields and banks near the coast, frequent. Winter.

32. P. curvicollum. Hedw. St. short reddish; l. erecto-patent, lanceolate, tapering, pointed with an excurrent nerve, entire, margin reflexed; caps. roundish, blunt-pointed, cernuous, exserted, on a longish curved pedicel; cal. dimidiate.

Moist banks and fields.

Sect. III. Barren fl. axillary, gemmiform.

33. P. cuspidatum. Schreb. From ⅛ to ¼in. high, st. simple or branched; l. ovate-lanceolate, cuspidate, erect concave, keeled, with the nerve prominently excurrent; caps. roundish, immersed on a short pedicel.

Moist banks, hedges, and fields, common. III.

var. β. leaves longer, lanceolate; caps. smaller. γ. Schreberianum. St. elongated, branches dichotomous; leaves distant spreading. δ. piliferum. Pedicel curved; leaves with long white filiform points. ε. curvisetum. Caps. laterally exserted, on a longish curved pedicel. ζ. elatum. Upper leaves lanceolate, cuspidate caps. sub-pendulous, similar to the last.

34. P. bryoides. Dicks. St. ⅛–¼in. simple or branched; l. lower, ovate pointed, upper elliptic ovate concave erect, margin reflexed, pointed with the excurrent nerve; caps. elliptical, with an oblique blunt point, brown, exserted. Barren fl. sometimes terminal on a short branch.

Banks and fields, rare. Spring.

var. β. leaves piliferous. γ. curvisetum. Pedicel curved, longer. δ. caps. roundish, pedicel very short. ε. smaller, with piliferous leaves. (P. pusillum Schleich.) ζ. Thornhillii. “l. spreading sub-reflexed spathulato-lanceolate, margin plane, nerve slightly excurrent; caps. narrowly elliptical, rostrate, pedicel elongated.”

Sect. IV. Barren fl. naked in the axil of a perichætial leaf.

35. P. patens. Hedw. St. ⅛in. l. more or less spreading, sometimes recurved, obovate-lanceolate, serrulate near the apex, concave, nerve ceasing below apex; caps. immersed spherical pointed, pale brown, sub-sessile.

Clay banks and fields. Autumn.

Sect. V. Stems growing by innovations, caps. therefore often apparently lateral, leaves narrow, almost setaceous.

36. P. nitidum. Hedw. L. generally erect, linear-lanceolate, keeled, sub-denticulate near apex, nerved (thin) nearly to summit; caps. elliptical, with a short oblique point, sometimes pendulous, on a short pedicel.

Moist banks, &c. Autumn, Spring.

37. P. subulatum. L. St. ⅛in. l. lanceolate, sharply tapering from a broadish base, not keeled, with a broad nerve ceasing near the apex; per. l. almost setaceous; caps. roundish-ovoid pale brown, immersed, on a very short pedicel.

Banks and fields, common. Spring.

38. P. alternifolium. Bruch. & S. St. sometimes with innovations, ½in. long, or more; st. l. lanceolate acuminate from a broad base; per. l. subulate-setaceous, with a thick nerve, excurrent and forming nearly the upper half of the leaf; caps. ovoid immersed, brownish, with an oblique point.

Banks and fallow ground. Spring.

Sect. VI. Stems perennial branched; leaves linear-lanceolate firm strongly nerved; caps. with traces of a dehiscent lid; barren fl. gemmiform, terminal on a branch or sometimes axillary.

39. P. crispum. Hedw. St. ¼in. cæspitose; with fastigiate branches; l. lanceolate-subulate, grooved erect or spreading, margins involute, nerve excurrent; per. l. very long, concave at base, sometimes almost secund; caps. roundish, immersed, pale brown, with an oblique beak.

Banks and fields, chiefly limestone. Spring.

40. P. multicapsulare. Smith. St. ½in., loosely tufted; leaves distant, alternate, spreading, lanceolate, somewhat obtuse, with an excurrent nerve and plane margin; per. l. longer and broader, erect, incurved; capsule ovoid tapering to an oblique short beak, on a longish pedicel, sometimes two together.

Fields, &c., rare. III.

var. β. Mittenii. Stems fragile, l. shorter, acute, recurved; p. l. smaller; caps. on a longer pedicel.

41. P. rostellatum. Brid. St. ⅛–¼in., tufted; l. linear-lanceolate, spreading obtuse, nerve excurrent, margin plane; caps. olive-brown ovoid elliptical with a straight beak; pedicel equalling caps. in length: a smaller plant than the last.

Dried beds of pools, &c. Autumn, Spring.