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Show The Hijlory of P L A N T S. M 0 s s E s. Clafs the Sixth. Genus the Nz'nth. P OLYC 0 C CA. P 0 L Y C 0 C C A is a oenus of Moffes, confifting of branches furniihed with leaves, and producing i;: the alre of thofe leaves capf?les of a roundiih figure, which, when ripe, open fome into three, and fome o~her~ mto four valves, and contain accordingly either three or four regular feeds. D1llenms, from the refemblance of this genus to the felago, calls it, Selaginoides; it feems more exprefiive of it's charaCl:er to name it from the number of divifions of it's feed-veffel, and the number of feeds contained in it. There is only one known fpecies of this genus, which is the plant our botanical writers have called by the Engliih name of Seeding-mountain Mofs. p 0 L Y C 0 C CA. This fingular plant confifis of procumbent branches, divaricated in vari?us manners, and taking root in feveral places, as they creep along. Thefe are covered wah fmall and £hart leaves, placed alternately. They are of a pale green colour, broadefi at the bafe, and terminate in a prickly point; they are rigid to. the touch,_ fomewh~t hollowed at the bafe, and bent a little backwards; and, when mcely exammed, their edges are feen to be befet with the fmall prickles, like thofe of the points. The extremities of the branches are fome of them flender ; but others are thicker than the refi: of the plant, and form a kind of fquammofe and foliaceous heads: thefe, the fucceeding year, grow larger, and produce feeds. At the time when they thus protuberate, there are no feeds, nor any thing offruCl:ificationvifible in them, but theyarecovered with leaves larger than the refi, and, like thofe of the feeding-lhoots, are more hollowed than the reft. Thcfe feeding-ihoots grow up in the manner of fpikes, from the feveral parts of the branches; they are an inch or two long, and fometimes more ; and they are fu_rniihed .with leaves refembling thofe of the branches, but larger, hollower, and more vtfibly fpmofe; they are of a paler colour alfo, and are placed alternately at fmall difi:ances. In the ah of thefe leaves are placed the capfules ; they are large, and ftand upon no pedicles, and are tricoccous, or quadricoccous, each containing either three or four feeds of the fize of poppy-feeds, and of a whitiih colour. ' This plant has been defcribed by moft of the late botanical writers. Merret calls it, Mufcus ereCl:us polyfpermus. Ray, Mufcus terrefiris polyfpermos. Tournefort, Mufcus ereCl:us, fquammofus, polyfpermos. Linnreus calls it, Lycopodium caule repente ramis fpica foliis patula infiruetis. It grows in wet places among ftones, on ~he W deb mountains, and in fome parts of York!hire, as well as in Lapland, and moft of the northern parts of the world. The capfules are produced in June, and remain on the plant till winter. M 0 S S E S. Clafs the Sz'xth. Genus the Tenth. OPEC A. 0 P E C ~ is .a genus of Moffes, confifiing of bran~hes furniihed with leaves, and producmg m the alre of the leaves capfules, whtch have no pedicles, nor any calyptrre, and which, when ripe, have feveral foramina in different parts of them, through which they difcharge their contents. There is only one known fpecies of this genus. · 0 P E C A, This is a very beautiful Mofs ; it grows to five or fix inches in height. It's main fialk fends off, on each fide, feveral branches, which fend off each feveral others ; thefe The . Hiflory of P L A N T S. 117 thefe fiand alternately, and they, as well as the main fialk, are furni£hed with leaves fet very thick, in an alternate order, oppofite to one another. They are of a fine green colour, fmooth on the furface, and pellucid; in ihape broad, and obtufe at the ends; they are fo difpofed, that they give the branches ~ pen!lated appearance: they .are convex on one fide, and hollow on the other ; and In thts qoJlow, part, near the infertion of the branches, they contain capfules which are fmall, o( ah oblong figure, and furrounded at the bafe by feveral little membranes. Thefe capfules are compofed of a thin membrane, including fix globular bodies, three on each fide, and oppofite to thefe as many foramina, or holes, out of which, when ripe, they difcharge a fine powder. ' It is a native of America; the only fpecimens ever feen of it1 in this part of the world, have been fent by John Bartram, from Penfylvania. It's capfules are ripe in January. Dillenius has defcribed it under the name of forella; no other author ha·S mentioned it. M 0 S S E S. C/afs the Seventh. Such as con.fifl of foliaceous matter, with evident fru'8i.ftcatio1is arijing fi • • I • rom tt. , 1 • , ·,, -1 :J ,., ( I ' Genus the Firfl. M A R C H A N T I A. MARCHANT I A is a genus of Moffes, confifiing of a congeries of foliace· ous matter, on the feveral parts of which there are feparate ,male and female parts of fruC.l:ification. . The male flower is placed on a long ereCt: ,pedicle, arifing outt of a kind of vagina. It's cup is a perianthium, large, fiat, and divided into eight or ten equal fegments, and contains under it as many flowers, as there are fegments. The corolla is monopetalous, turbinated, and ihorter than the cup. The ftamen is a fingle filament, undivided, and larger than the flower : the anthera is of an oval figure, and divides from the top into as many parts as there are fegments in the cup : the farina is affixed to filaments. The female flower fiands on the fame plant, but does not rife from the furface : it's calyx is a perianthium, confill:ing of one leaf of a membranaceous fubll:ance, permanent, and of the figure of a cup, or funnel, fcrrated round the edges, and divided into two cavities, by a membrane which runs acrofs it's middle ; in the lower cavity of this cup there are contained feveral naked feeds of a roundiih, but compreffed figure. , I. Marchantia imbrie at a foliis brevi bus. Short-leaved, imbricated Marchantia. This [pedes generally forms a clufier of leaves of an irregular and indeterminate figure; the leaves are ihort, moderately broad, and irregularly laciniated about the edges. They are of a duiky, difagreeable, green colour, and do 'not ihine as thofe of fome other of the fpecies of this genus do. They have no vifible veins on the upper fide, but they are very thick fet with lanuginous fibres, which ferve as roots on the under fide. They generally grow a great number together, one falling over another. They are fixed do~n by the roots quite to the edges, and, when clofely examined, they appear of .a rettcula.te? texture, and the areolre between .the reticulations punCtated. The pedtcles fuftammg the male flowers are about an mch long; the cup is divided into ten narrow, long fegments. The female flowers are green, and of the fhape of a hollow cone, with it's bafe upwards. The membrane covering the feeds breaks very foon in this fpeeies, fo that the feeds are almofi: always vifible. It grows by damp walls, and fometimes about the fiumps of trees in woods. It flowers in July and Auguft. Dillenius defcribes it under the name of Lichen domefticus minor. Linnreus, by that of Marchantia calyce communi decempartito laciniis linearibus; and Micheli, under that of Marchantia capitulo fiellato radiis teretibus. H h 2 . Marchantia |