ORTHOTRICIIUM EXIGUUM, Sulliv.
Tab. 35.
Plantæ perpusillæ, pulvinulos laxos saturate virides efformantes.
Caulis 2–3 lineas altus, simplex vel fastigiato-ramosus, laxius foliosus.
Folta elongato-oblonga, obtuse acuminata, erecto-patentia, margine leniter recurva, ad apicem fere carinato-costata, superne punctiformi-areolata, minutissime papillosa, basi e cellulis oblongis laxius texta.
Flores dioici: masculi gemmiformes, in plantis femineis minoribus terminales; perigonialibus orbiculari-ovatis; paraphysibus subnullis.
Capsula subimmersa, oblongo-ovalis, brevicolla, macrostoma, sicca lenissime lato-costata; tubo-vaginali conspicuo; peristomio duplici, dentibus 16 geminatis, ciliis 8 lanceolatis dentes latitudine superantibus obtusis albidis punctulatis e cellularum duplici serie exstructis; operculo hemisphærico apiculato; calyptranuda vel pilis rarissimis adspersa.
Orthotrichum exiguum, Sulliv. Mosses U. States, p. 33.
Hab. On the base of trees, near the Santee Canal, South Carolina, Ravenel.
One of the smallest of the genus, approaching closely in many of its characters O. obtusifolium, Schrad.; which, however, is a much larger species, with a longer-necked capsule, strongly ribbed when dry; the leaves subelliptical, more obtuse, plane on their margins; the teeth of the peristome 8 bigeminate; and the cilia much narrower and yellowish.
