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

6. WEISSIA. Hedw.

a. Monoicous.

48. W. controversa. Hedw. St. ⅛–¼in. branched; l. lower lanceolate, upper linear-lanceolate, margin incurved, with a slightly excurrent nerve; caps. oval, erect, lid conical, beak half-length of capsule; barren fl. gemmiform.

Frequent. Spring.

var. β. stenocarpa. caps. sub-cylindrical narrow. γ. densifolia. densely tufted; l. crowded narrower. δ. amblyodon. teeth of peristome variable, short and truncate, acute or cleft at apex., yellowish. ε. gymnostomoides. teeth of peristome almost wanting.

49. W. mucronata. B. & S. Smaller than last; l. linear-lanceolate, with plane margins, the nerve slightly excurrent and forming a mucro; caps. oblong, scarcely striated; teeth of per. short truncate, perforated, lid with a longish beak; barren fl. gemmiform.

Fallow (clay) ground. III. IV.

50. W. cirrhata. Hedw. St. ½–1in. loosely tufted; l. linear-lanceolate, spreading entire concave, keeled, margin reflexed, not nerved to apex; per. l. slightly sheathing, shorter; caps. oval-oblong; lid with a long beak; monoicous.

Posts and rocks in mountainous districts.

51. W. crispula. Hedw. St. shorter than last, branched; l. spreading, frequently falcato-secund, lanceolate-subulate, base wide, concave; margins plane, not nerved to apex; caps. oval or oblong without annulus; lid beaked. Barren fl. gemmiform.

Mountainous rocks. VI. VII.

Sect. II. Infl. dioicous; terminal.

52. W. verticillata. Brid. St. ¼–¾in., branches fastigiate; l. linear-lanceolate, rigid, denticulate at base, sub-erect, margin plane, with a strong slightly excurrent nerve; teeth of per. incurved, not barred, sometimes perforated; caps. erect, reddish; lid beaked.

Dripping limestone rocks. VI. VII.

53. W. calcarea. Müll. St. short, simple; densely tufted, radiculose at base; l. lower small ferruginous, erecto-patent, narrowly lanceolate; upper larger deep green lineal-lanceolate, rather obtuse concave, stoutly nerved nearly to apex, margin minutely crenulate; per. l. lanceolate concave acute; caps. oblong sub-cylindric short-necked erect, on a pale yellow seta, lid conical subulate.

var. δ. brevifolium. Schpr. Slender branched; l. lower very minute distant, upper crowded ovate-lanceolate, recurved above; caps. oval.

Damp rocks and walls. Blackhall, nr. Banchory, Dee side. Mr. Sim. var. δ. only and barren. [Dr. Braithwaite.]

54. W. commutata. Mitt. “L. from a sub-oblong base lanceolate, narrowed, keeled with the nerve, which vanishes below apex, cells nearly all elongated and pellucid; per. l. similar”; caps. turbinate, lid with a very oblique longish beak.

Alpine rocks, Nant-y-Fydd, Wrexham (Mr. Bowman.)

55. W. truncicola. De Not. In large dense bright green tufts; st. 1–2in. dichotomous, reddish, radiculose below; l. erect when moist and often secund on the young shoots, rather soft, papillose at back, from a narrowly lanceolate base gradually subulate channelled, thinly nerved nearly to apex, margin not revolute, sharply denticulate above and on the back of the nerve; strongly cirrhate and twisted when dry; basal cells large cylindraceo-vesicular, the rest small quadrate or sub-hexagonal, filled with chlorophyll. [Dr. Braithwaite, Jour. Bot., IX., 290.]

Base of an oak trunk in Sutton Park, Birmingham. J. Bagnall, 27th Aug., 1870.

7. RHABDOWEISSIA. Bruch. & S.

56. R. fugax. B. & S. St. ¼–½in. tufted; l. linear-lanceolate, acute, toothed near apex, margins plane; caps. ovate, somewhat striated; teeth of per. subulate, fugacious; lid with an oblique beak longer than capsule.

Sub-alpine rocks, in crevices. VI. VII.

57. R. denticulata. B. & S. St. longer than last, loosely tufted; l. lingulate or linear-lanceolate, strongly toothed half way from apex; caps. more distinctly striated when dry, teeth of per. lanceolate, persistent.

Alpine and sub-alpine rocks.

8. CAMPYLOSTELIUM. Bruch. & S.

58. C. saxicola. B. & S. Minute; l. elongate, linear-lanceolate, crowded entire, twisted, nerved nearly to summit; caps. elliptical drooping, on a geniculate pedicel, annulus double, calyptra 5–cleft. at base.

Sandstone rocks, rare. XI.

9. BRACHYODUS. Nees. & H.

59. B. trichodes. N. & H. Very minute; l. lanceolate-subulate, almost setaceous; erect, with an excurrent nerve forming half the leaf; caps. erect, furrowed; per. very short, annulus large, lid flattish with a long beak.

Sub-alpine sandstone rocks. Spring.

10. SELIGERIA. Bruch & S.

60. S. pusilla. Bruch. & S. Minute, ⅛in. stems loosely tufted, simple or dichotomous; l. lanceolate-subulate, very narrow, thinly nerved nearly to apex; per. with teeth distantly barred; caps. on an upright pedicel, turbinate when dry, with a flattish beaked lid.

Shady limestone rocks. IV. V.

61. S. tristicha. Brid. Densely cæspitose, rigid; l. exactly tristichous, crowded, rigid, narrowly lanceolate, muticous, base whitish; caps. yellowish brown sub-spherical, with a tumid neck, lid large with a long oblique or arcuate beak; per. teeth narrower than in calcarea.

Calcareous stones and rocks. Summer.

Blair Athol, Glen Tilt, and Ben-y-Gloe. Rev. J. M. Crombie.

62. S. paucifolia. Carruthers. (S. subcernua, Schp.; S. calcicola, Mitt.) Densely gregarious, low; leaves crowded erecto-patent, lower ones lanceolate, upper subulate from a narrow oblong base, margins plane, nerve exserted, areolæ dense, rectangular; caps. elliptical sub-cernuous on a long seta, unsymmetrical, lid with a long beak; male fl. at base of female plant.

Limestone rocks and stones. VI.

Chalk Downs, Sussex, Mr. Mitten; Near Wetherby, 1801, Dickson.

[63. S. acutifolia. Lind. Very small; l. and per. l. from a more or less sheathing base abruptly narrowed into a subterete setiform acute pointed awl, formed by the excurrent nerve, crenulate; seta 1 mm. long; caps. small, scarcely exserted, pyriform with a short neck, lid with a short scarcely oblique beak];—type not British but

var. β. longiseta, Lindb. Plant larger, seta 2–3 mm. long, caps. exserted, beak of lid longer and more oblique—gathered by Mr. Wilson, 14th May, 1831, and sent by him to Dr. Lindberg.

64. S. calcarea. B. & S. St. short, more robust, than No. 60, l. ovate-subulate, obtuse, dull green with a thicker nerve; caps. turbinate, shortly beaked, on a short stiff pedicel; peris. teeth, broader obtuse, closely barred.

Chalk cliffs. IV. V.

65. S. recurvata. B. & S. St. minute gregarious; l. lanceolate-subulate, somewhat flexuose, acute, nerve excurrent generally; caps. obovate elliptical; pedicel curved drooping.

Sandstone rocks, rare. IV. V.

11. ANODUS. Bruch. & S.

66. A. Donianus. B. & S. St. minute, ⅛in. gregarious; l. almost setaceous, lanceolate-subulate, very minutely toothed; per. l. bluntish and rather shorter; caps. cup-shaped or turbinate, mouth wide; Cal. dimidiate; perist. none, lid with a short beak.

Sandstone rocks, rare. IX.