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Show ro8 1he Jiijlory of P L A N T S. from that. It grows to five or fix inches i? length; it:s ftalk i~ br?wn, or blacki01, very firm and {hong, and divaricates ufually mto fix or etght ramtficauons. The leaves are oblong, broad, and of a fine green colour, fmooth and gloffy, and .confiderably pellucid. They do not fiand fo thick as the leaves of many the Mofies do ; they are [mall toward the bottom of the ftalks, largeft in the middle, and fmall ag~in toward the extremity, where they fometimes alfo are convoluted fo as to form a kmd of point. They are broad~ft at the bafe, and, from .thence, grow f~aller gra~ually to the point, and are placed m fuch order? that they gtve the plant. a kmd of tnangular figure. The capfules grow from the mtddle to . the lower parr of the bra~ches ; there arife from the alre of the leaves, in this part, a kmd of membranaceous vagmre, or cups, of an oval figure, open at the upper part; and, from this opening, there appe~:s the top of a membranaceous capfule, like thof~ of the other Moffes, covered Wl~h 1t s calyptra : within the vagina, there is ~ontamed an oblo~g capfule, wholly ltke th?fe; it's aperture being furrounded, as m the other, wtth a number of pyramtdal bodies, vifible, when the calyptra is taken off. Thefe capfules fiand on extremely !ho~t pedides, they appear to have none at all. There a.re a few membranaceous leaves a: thetr bafe; and the whole vagina, when examined, ts found alfo to be compofed ot fuch membranes, laid over one another, like fcales, in fo nice a manner, that the whole feems to conftitute only one membrane. This fpecies is very common in brooks and .rivers about London, and elfewhere ; in fianding waters it is fometimes rooted in the mud; in running ones it always affixes itfelf to wood , or to fome other folid fubfiance. Moll: of the botanical writers have defcribed this fpecies; C. Bauhine calls it, Mufcus aquaticus folio expanfo; R~y, ~uf~us a~uaticus triangul.aris; Lrefelius, Muf:us aqu~ticus denticulatus; and Dtllemus, 111 hts Catalogus Gtffenfis, Selago aquattca, folus pellucidis, triangularibus, acutis, complicatis cintla; but, in his fucceeding edition of Ray's Synopfis, and in his Hiftoria Mufcorum, he diftinguifhes it for a Fontinalis. 2. Fontinalis foliis lanceolatis. The Fontinalis, with lanceolated leaves. This is a fmaller fpecies than the former. From the fame root it ufually fends up a great munber of (mall and !lender ftalks; they are of a browni!h duiky colour, and very tough and firong.. They grow to three or four inches in length, and are fometimes fingle, fometimes divided into two or three branches. The leaves do not ftand fo thick as in many of the other Moffes; they are fmall, narrow, and obtufely pointed, and fiand in two rows, one oppofite to the other. They are of a pale yellowifh, green colour, as is alfo that part of the ftalk which is near the fummit. From the alre of the leaves there arife very fhort pedicles, which fupport oblong capfules, with their calyptra: on the fummit, and with a tender mernbraneous vagina, or cup, at the bafe, which falls to pieces very eafily. It is an American Mofs, and not known any where .there but in the hotter countries. Plumier has defcribed it under the name of Mufcus linaria! foliis acutiffimis. It grow.s up out of the mud, m the bottom of fianding !hallow waters. 3· Fontinalis Joliis capillaceis. Capillary-leaved Fontinalis. This is a very beautiful fpecies. It grows to fix or eight inches in length, and fends. out a number of branches, which are ufually fingle, but fometimes divided into two or three ramifications. The leaves ftand very clofe and thick; they are oblong, extremely narrow, and hollowed toward the bafe, and are of a dufky green in the young branches, and of a blackin1 hue on the larger ftalks. From the alre of the leaves, and particularly about the origin of the ramifications, there grow a peculiar kind of vagina!, compofed of membranaceous leaves, folded together, and, at firfi, terminating in a !harp poiQ.t. Thefe vaginre are remarkably long, and, after they have appeared fome time, they open at the point, and there appear capfules of a roundilb figure, like thofe of the other Moffes of this clafs. There is no apparent pedicle to thefe capfules, but, when the vagina is opened, a pedicle is found running down it's whole length. The whole plant has much the appearance of a hypnum, but it's fingular vaginc:e fufficiently declare it to be a Fontinalis. It ~rows it~ ft~ndi.ng w"aters, fometimes in rivulets, and is very common in North Amenca. D1llenms 1s the only author who has defcribed it; he received fpecimens of it 7/.;e Hijlory of P L A N T s~ iog it from Penfylvania, gathered .there by John Barham, at the fame time that mine and thofe of all the other botanical people who have it were fent over. There are only two rpecies of Fontinalis known, befide thofe here defcribed: thefe are, I. The fmaller, tnangular-leaved F ontinalis, with capfules a~ the fummits of the branches. 2. The fine-leaved, blackilh, gloffy Fontinalis. M o ·s s E s. Clafs the Fifth. Genus the Sixtbo H Y P N U M. ·H Y P N U M is a genus of Iy.lofi"es, confifiing of fialks and leaves, and producing .membra~aceous capfules, hke thofe of the reft of this clafs ; thefe capfules fiand on pedtcles, whic? grow from the ala; of the leaves, and have, at their bafe, a kind of fquammous covenng, formed of a matte~ quite different from the leaves of the plant. The capfules of the Hypnum all have their calyptrre: they are of different fhapes but ufually oblo~g, an~ the pedicles on which t~ey ~and are ufually long alfo. 'The fqua~mous mvoluc1 urn, at the bafe of the pediCle, IS .called by Dillenius perichretium; ~n? IS ~he great charatl:eriftic o~ the Hypna, no Moffes of any other genus having It m thts form. Th~ Hyp~um ts a very large genus; Dillenius has defcribed no lefs than feventy-fix _fpectes of 1t: fome of thefe, however, are but varieties of the fame plant, under dtfferent fiates. The Hypna; in general, are large Moffes, and are branched; fome of them, however, want this dbvious charatler as fome of the bryums alfo are branched, and, at firft fight, refemble the Hypnum;. r · Hypnum ramofum foliis triangularibus minoribus. Branched Hypnum, with fmall, triangular leaves. This is the Mofs properly. called Mufcus terrefiris vulgatiffimus. It is by much the moil: common of all the MoDes. Some authors have difiinguiil1ed it by this name but moft others have called .other Moffes, neit~1er common, or of the land kind, by 'it, as the great fph~gn~m, ~c. The fialks of this Mofs grow to fix or eight inches in length; they ufually dtvanc_ate wto feveral ramifications, and each of thefe fends out alfo other branc~es, whtcb ~re fimple, and of half an inch, or more, in length. ' Th; whole plant IS covered With lbort and. fmallleaves, very thick fet, and falling like fcales over on~ another : they are of a tnangular figure, broad at the bafe, and terminate in a po~nt. They are of a pa.le yell~wifh-green c.olour, ~nd of a fhining furface. From the alre of ~he l~aves there nfe pedicles o~ two mches m length, !lender, glofi"y, and of a a re~d1fh.. brown colour; thefe f~fiam capfules of an oblong figure, and thefe are cover~d wtth a calyptra, and con tam a fine greenilh-yellow powder. It IS extreme~y common on barren ground, and under hedges, but the capfules are not frequent on 1t; ten thoufand clufiers of the plant may be examined before there are any of them found. ' ~ofl: ~f ~he bot~1_1 ical writers have defcribed this fpecies. Ray calls it, Mufcus terreftns lat10nbus folus, five vulgaris ; and Tournefort, Mufcus fquammofus ramofus. 2. H.J:p~um ereElum rigidum, capjit!is cernuis. Tbe rzgzd, erect Hypnum, with cenzuous heads. This is an extremely di~eren~ plant from the former in it's general figure; as that is procumbent an? weak? this fiands ereCt, and it's ftalks are firm and rjgid. It rifes to three or four mches m height; it's fialks are of a blackifh colour and are almoll: naked fot: one half of their height, having in this lower part only a fe~ yellowilh membra~ es, ?ere and there upon them; from this part they begin to fend off branches whtch, m the whole, are very numerous; and thefe again fend off others, {o that th~ whole plant much refembles a tree, whofe trunk is naked, but it's head very full of b~ugh~. All thefe ?ranches, as well as the main :fialk of the plant from this height, a1 e . thick covered wtth leaves, broad at the baf~, and terminating in a point; they are fllOI t, and of a dark green colour. The root 1s creeping, and . fends up a ntJn1ber of F f thefe |