General Natural History Vol. 2 - A History of Plants

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I • . /~ ·" 100 Thi/ pijlory of P L A N T S. ' · h · ' · d the pyramidal bodies over it is not in the middle of the cap-aperture, Wit Its nng an d ' · fi 11 powde fule but on one fide; when opened, they a\e faun ~o conta~n a ~e y~ ow . r. When there is lenty of nouriihment tor this Mofs,. It fometim~s nfes mto a kmd of i t lk · h- b lb which was once the congenes of fiar-hke leaves at the top; h a. ~ carrymg t llSr: uto 'all the other acaulous Bryre; fo that they cannot, with per-t ts IS common a 10 ' Jr. b · d'fi' feB: 11.ritl:nefs, be called by that name, though it ve:y .well expreues an o VIOUS I mc-tion in the common appearance of the plant. This IS fo e~tr.emely ~ommo~ a Mofs, that fcarce any of the botanical writer~ hav~ omitted a defc~1pt10n of It. Va1ll~nt calls it Mufcus foliis fcutellatis capitulo pynformi nuta~te;. Tomnefort, M?fcus capillaceus, folio rotundiore; capfula oblonga incur.va ; ~nd Dillenm~, Bryum bulb1forme, au:em~ , calyptra quadrangnlari, capfulis pynfo.rm1bus nutantl~us. The ~~d auth01s, ~n general, call it Polytrichum aureum mmus, and Polytr~chu~ Apuleu: It grows I.n great abundance on our heaths, and even by way-fides; It thnves beft m places whe1e there is moifiure. 2. Bryum .flellare, cauliculatum, capfulis ovatis pendulis. The .flarry; cauliculate Bryum, with oval, pendulous capjules. This 1s one of the moft beautiful of all the genus of ~r~u.ms,. and appears i.n the greateft variety of forms of any of them, infomuch .that, m. It~ d~~erent fiates, lt has been defcribed under various names, as different fpec1es. It IS, m 1t s mofi general and perfetl: ftate, eretl: and fimple; but it is, al~o, fometiffi:es erett,. ram~fe,. :nd larger, and fometimes procumbent, and fo v:holly unlJke .e;ery thmg that lt has m. ItS common appearance, that nothing, but the havmg obferved 1t s chan~es! could have d~fcovered that thefe it's feveral ftates and appearances were all but the vanauons of nature m the vegeta­tion of a fingle plant. In it's perfetl: ftate it canfifts of a fibrous root, a fingle fi alk of about three quarters of an inch high, a pedic.le of ab?ut the fame length, and an oval capfule, bending downwards, and covere~ wnh a come calyptra. The fialk is furniihed all the way up with fmall, lh.ort, and obtufe leaves, approach-ing, in their figure, toward round~efs ; at it's fummit there grow a clufier of leaves, of a different lhape, oblong and p·:)lnted, and much larger than the ot~ers. Thef: are difpofed in form of a radiated fiar, ,an.d, from the center of thefe, anfes the pedt~le; which is yellow, it's tuberous bafe reddtib, and the capfule large, and full of a greem{h~ yellow powder. . . Sometimes infiead of a pedicle to fufiam a capfule, there anfe, fi·om the fiarry top of the ftalk, 'three or four branches, thick fet with long and narrow leaves, very un­like thofe of the lower part ; and fometimes thefe branches £hoot out from the al::E of the leaves of the main ftalk not from it's fummit; in either cafe the plant grows to two, three, or four inches in h;ight, and has an appearance wholly ~nlike itfe~f in .it's for­mer more natural ftate: but it's moft fingul ar appearance of all1s, wh~n 1t tra1ls upo?­the ground, as it will fometimes do, to the length of three or four mches. In this ftate it fomewhat refembles the trichomenes. It's ftalks are roundi(h, and are fur­ni( hed with ihort and roundiib leaves on each fide, growing fmaller as they approach the point; and the ftalk fometim:s divides at th~t part, and becomes bifid ; fometi~es it fends out other branches, and 1s all the way fafiened down to the ground b~ ltttle roots. The leaves, in all thefe ftatcs of the plant, are fmooth and gloffy, and, 1f ex­amined by the microfcope, they are found to have their edges finely ferrated, and to be terminated by a fort of weak fpine. This fpecies is common in damp places, a little lhadowy : Hampftead-heath fur-niilies abundance of it, ai)d that in all it's ftates. Many authors have taken it, in it's creeping fi ate, for a lichenaftrum; but Hoffman very judicioufiy obferves, that it may always be diainguiilied not to be of that genus of plants, by the ferrature of the leaves, and by their ending in a kind of fpine. P~n­conius has favoured the error of taking it for a lichenafirum, by figuring it as growmg in circular clufiers, and with an odd leaf at the end of the rib, or fialk; but this is not in nature: it grows irregularly and fcatteredly, and has no odd leaf, it's extremity be- . ing either fixed down by roots, or terminated in a fcutulated point. Plukenet has figured it in an ill pofiure, and from a decayed fpecimen, the leaves being curled up, which they never are while the plant is growing. .. Tournefort has defcribed it twice; once under the name of Mufcus palufiris fo~us fubrotundis, and once under that of Mufcus polytrichoides, polycephalus, chama:Jyces foho. · Hoffman The Hifloty of P· L A N T S. IOl Hoffman calls it, Mufcus trichomanis facie foliis utrinque r<;>tundis et fplendentibus ; and Dillenius, in his Catalagous Giifenfis, defcribes it three times, as he confeffes in his Hif..;. tory; once under the name of Bryum nitidum foliis ferpylli pellucidis fubrotundis elatius. a fecond time under that of Br yum nitidum foliis inferioribus ferpylli fuperioribus angufti; et oblongis ; and a third ,under that of Lichenafi:rum trichomanis facie. If fo accu­rate an author as this was deceived by the various appearances of thi£ Mofs, there is no wonder that others ihould defcribe them as various fpecies. 3· Bryum cauliculatum capfulis Jphcericis. The cauliculate Bryum, with round capfules. This is of the number of thofe Bryums, whofe pedicles arife from the heads of the fialks of the year before ; fo that, other branches having grown from them in the mean time, thefe, till this circumfiance is underfiood, feem to emulate the ~haraCl:er of the h ypna, and to protrude their pedicles from the midfi of the branches. There is, however, another great charaCl:er which diftinguifhes all tllefe Bryums which is that the pedicle has no foliaceous involucrum at the bafe, as thofe of ali the hypn~ have. This. very beautiful Bryum grows to about an inch and half in height, without the pedtcle ; and,. feveral of the plants always growing together, they tnake a very pretty tuft, fomet1mes of a foot broad. The young plants are fimple, but the taller ones are branched; that is, fecond and third year's £hoots having grown from them, two or three for each year, they appear to be fomewhat ramofe. The leaves fiand ex­treamly thick and cl~fe about them, and are oblong, very n~u·row, and of a carinated form, and of a beautiful pale green colour. The pedicles for the capfules appear in February ; fame growing from the fummits, fome from the fides of the branches according to their feveral periods of growth. They are fine as hairs, of a reddifh co~ lour, and tuberculous at their bottom: the capfulcs are ripe about May, and foon af­ter fall off; they. ar~ perfeCtly round, and have an obtufe, iliort calyptra, which gene­rally falls off very foon after they have acquired their full fize. ' .It is not unfrequent on di tch-banks, and readily difiinguia1es itfelf there by it's fine · bnght, green colour, and the largenefs of it's tufts. It grows plentifully on Hatnp~ :fiead-heath, and about Harrow. Ray bas defcribed it under the name of Mufcus tri­choides, medius, capitulis fphrericis; and Morifon, under that of Mufcus trichoides minimus, fericeus, capillaceus, capitulis fph::Ericis. Linnams under that of Bryum caul~ reCto foliis fetaceis capitulis globofis. The capCules are made too large in Morifon's figure, and in Vaillant's the leaves are too broad ; the operculum is figured too acute in them both ; it is in nature ob­tufe. 4· Bryum ramofum lanuginqfum. Branched, hairy Bryum. . This is of the number of the . Bryums, that are truly and really branched. It is, mdeed, as much.~o, as the generality of the hypna; but the pedicles grow all of them from the extremtties only of the branches, not from their fides, and have no foliaceous mvolu~ ra at .the bafe,. wh i~h is naked and tuberous, as in the other Brya. Th1s fpec1es fometi.mes 1s found fingle, fometimes in tufts, and thofe of confiderable extent, a ~reat q~antlty of the ~l an ts being entangled one with anoth,er. It grows to five or fix, mc!1es 111 lengt.h, and it's flalks are fomewhat rigid, yet they do not fupport them~dves :rc::Ct, but trcul upon the ground, and take root at feveral places. They are fometnnes f1~~le, fr)metimes di varicated, and always fend off on each fide a number of branches, wmch are fometimes fimple, fometimes themfelves furnilh.ed with others . thcf~ bra~che~ are clofcr fet with leaves than the mair: . fialks, and confequently they appt:ar l.hJckeJ. Tl~e lea~es are very narrow, of a wh1tlfh, green colour, and all ter­~ mate 111 long, white ha1rs at th~ir points; they ftand very clofe together, and quite ~Ide th.e ftalks. From the fummm of thefe branches there proceed pedicles very fine, hke hatrs, ~nd of a pale yellow colour ; they are iliort, and bear n1ort heads of a fome­wl~ at roundJ{h figure, but pointed at the fummit, and covered with a conic and lh.arp­pomted calyptra. Dd