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Show The Hiflory of P L A N T S. M 0 S S E S. Clifs· the Fifth. Genus tbe Fourth. M N I U M. M N I U M is a genus of Mo.lfes, confifling of fl:alks furnill1ed with leaves, and producing capfules on pedicles rifing f1:om them,. like ti:ofe of the other Mo1fes of this clafs; and, befide thefe, on other ped1cles, beanng a kmd of naked heads of a dufty furface, and having no calyptr.re. . . Thefe two kinds of heads are, m feme fpec1es, produced on the fame plant ; m others on different plants, of the fame fpecies. The pedicles which fupport the mer_nbranaceous heads, or ~apfules, are long a?d naked . thofe which bear the dufly heads are fhort, , and are m fome of the fpec1es naked ~lfo, but in others they are furniilied with little leaves. Thefe .dufly heads, when examined with a good microfcope, are found to confift of congenes of green, foliaceous membranes, expanded in form of rofes. t. Mnium foliis brevibus carinatis. The jhort and hollow-leaved Mnium. This is a very fmall fpecies, and, when in any but it's flowering ftate., is ~afily ~if-. taken for one of the little bryums. It grows ufually to about half an mch m he1ght, fometimes not fo much ; and fometimes, in very favourable foils, to an inch. Many of the plants ufually grow together, fo as to form a large tuft, and that of a pleafant, green colour, and very pretty appearance. The fl:alks are often fimple, fometi~es divided into three or four branches ; they fl:and ereCt, and the leaves are fet lefs th1ck on them, than on the generality of the Mo.lfes : they ar~ {hort and iharp-pointed, and of a pale greeh. In March there arife, from the fumm1ts of [orne of the branches, fuort and naked pedicles, which fupport each a head of the dufiy kind ; thefe heads are round, of the fize of a moderate pin's head, and of a green colour. They foon come to their maturity, and foon decay. From the fummits of the other branches there arife about the fame time longer pedicles, of a yellowi!h colour, which fupport heads of the capfular kind, perfectly refembling thofe of the bryums ; they are oblong, and have their calyptrre like thofe of the other J.\tloffes, but white at the bottom, and brown at top. Thefe heads are much longer in coming to maturity, than the other heads, and remain a great while longer on the plant. - The dufiy heads are very frequent on this plant, but the capfular ones are met with but rarely. The plant is common with us on ditch-banks, and on heaths: wh~re it has a great deal of moifture it grows much larger than in dry places. Tournefort calls it, Mufcus capillaceus minimus, capifu]o minimo pulverulento; and Micheli from Ray, Mu(cus trichoides parvus, capitulo conglomera to feu botryoide. Haller calls it, Bryum alternans calyptra variegata fcyphulis foliofis. Buxbaum cenfures Morifon's figure, but his 0wn, which he gives in the place of it, is worfe. Vaillant has not fi~ gured the capfular heads at a.ll, nor have many others who have figured the plant. 2. Mnium capitulis numerojis. Many-headed Mnium. This is a taller and more robufr plant than the former ; it grows to two inches in height> and it's fl:alk is frequently quite fimple; fometimes it fends out a few branches, but, when it does, thefe are always fhort and inconfiderable. The leaves fiand much thicker about the upper part of the plant, than about the lower. They are .<:>blong, narrow, of a dufky green colour, and pointed at the end: the pedicles, wh1ch fupport the dufiy, naked heads, are !hort; they proceed .fi·om the alre of the leaves, and fiand v.ery thick ; it is common to meet with thirty or forty upon a fingle plant. ·· Thefe pedlcles are iliort, and are not naked, but have a kind of little, membran,\ ceous leaves, fianding pretty clofe upon them. The heads are [mall and round, not 'Jbe Hi}Jory of P L A N- T s. 107 ·not exceeding a fmall pin's head in fize; they lafl: but a little time on the p1ant and no other heads have as yet been obferved upon it. ' Dillenius found this Mofs dried among Mr Sherrard's papers; and in Buddie's Hortus Siccus, under the names of Mufcus alter botryoides elatior, and Mufcus pulverulentis forfitan variis capitulis. I have met with it growing in feme damp places on the fide of Rook's Hill near Goodwood, the feat of the late great patron of botany, of all the fciences, and of all who fiudied them. · 3· Mnium repens pennatum-. The pennated, creeping Mnitt11t. This is a fpecies fo extreamly different from the two others, that, at firfl: fight, one would fcarce imagine it could belong to the fame genus. It rather refembles a lichenaflrum, or fame other Mofs of tha~ kind. It never rifes at all from the ground, but creeps upon it, fending down fi brous roots fi·om every part. It grows to two inches in length, and generally fends out three or four fmall ramifications. The main fialk is furniihed with a double row of thin and fomewhat broad membranaceous leaves, very pellucid, and of a glo.lfy furface. Thefe are fo regularly placed, that they give it a pennated look, and are fmaller toward th6 bafe of the fl:alk, than in the middle of it, and from thence grow fmaller again toward the end; the branches have the fame fort of leaves, and difpofed in the fame manner, except that theirs are largefl: at the bafe of the branch, and gradually fmaller all the way up: the leaves on thefe alfo are narrower, in proportion to their length, than the others. From the fummits of thefe branches there grow little, round, naked, and dufiy ht!ads; they are of a green colour, and fiand on fhort pedicles : they lafi but a little time, and their pedkles fall off with ·them, fo that the plant is ufually fouml without them. No other kind of heads have yet been obferved in. this fpecks, though .freq.uently met with. It grows much about London, in Cane-wood and on Hampftead-heath; but it has not been defcribed by any author, except OHlenius, who acknowledges, that he met with the :firft mention of it in fome manufcript notes of Mr Doody's. Haller is for referring the fpecies of this genus to the bryums ; and mofl: of the authors, · who have written about them, determine the capfular heads to be the male part of the fi'uctification, the dufty ones the female; but the frequency of the latter, and the fcarcity of the former, plead much againfl: it, and their time of appearance more fo : when both are found on the fame plant, the dufly ones are generally decayed, and fallen off, long before the capfular ones have arrived at their maturity. The fpecies of Mnium, bcfide thofe here defcribed, are, I. The tranfparent, [erpylIum- leaved Mnium. 2. The larger, upright, and forked bog Mnium. 3· The tranfparent, trichomanes-like Mnium, with divided leaves. 4· The lichen-leaved Mnium, improperly made a new genus by Micheli and Linnreus, under the name of Blafia. and 5· The fhort, irregularly-branched Mnium. :t M 0 s s E s. _ C!afs tbe Fifth. Genus the Fifth. F 0 N T I N A L I S. F ONTIN A~IS is a genus. of Moifes, confi:fl:ing of branches furniilied with leaves, an~ producm~ alfo caP.filles of the membranac~ous kind, covered with calyptrre, but havmg no pedtcles, or very fhort ones: they are mclofed in a fort of vagina or cup of a fquammous fl:ruCl:ure, and produced in the alee of the leaves. ' ' The Fontinales are but few in number, and are very regular and fimilar one toanother in their manner of growing. There are only five known fpecies and they are ' all of the ramofe kind. ' I. Fontinalis foliis latioribus. Broad-leaved Fontinalis. This is a very large Mofs, and very confpicuous in it's manner of growing. It is ufually affixed to fome folid matter, in or at the fide of the water, and floats at length from |