XXXIV. HEPATICÆ, Juss.
(By Dr. Thomas Taylor[1] and J. D. Hooker.)
1. JUNGERMANNIA, L.
(1. Gymnomitrion, Nees.)
1. Jungermannia stygia, Hook. fil. et Tayl.; perpusilla, caule erecto laxe cæspitoso ramoso, foliis erectis subimbricatis appressis obovatis obtusis integris v. emarginatis, perichætiis rotundatis caule duplo latioribus. (Tab. LXII. Fig. IV.)
Hab. Campbell's Island; on rocks on the hills, growing amongst other Hepaticæ and Mosses.
Caules 2–3 lin. longi, crassiusculi, superne fusco- v. atro-purpurei, inferne fusco-olivacei vage ramosi; ramis divaricatis. Folia minima, subsecunda, alterna, vix imbricata, obovata v. oblonga, apices versus obtusos late emarginata, segmentis obtusis, rarius integra, margine superiore interdum scariosa. Perichætia subrotunda, foliis imbricatis, latiusculis, ad apices albidos plerumque scariosis.
A very inconspicuous little species, approaching J. concinnata (Lightf.), of which it is probably the representative in these islands. The leaves are, however, more distant, never bifid at the apex, the stems slenderer and the perichætia sessile and round. Its colour is like Gymn. adustum, Nees, a German plant, with short and simpler stems.
Plate LXII. Fig. IV.—1, a plant of the natural size; 2, a specimen, magnified; 3, stem and leaves; 4, leaf: both magnified.
2. Jungermannia acinacifolia, Hook. fil. et Tayl.; atro-fusca, caulibus erectis cæspitosis parce ramosis, foliis secundis ante imbricatis erectis acinaciformibus integerrimis apice rotundatis demum scariosis concavis atro-purpureis. (Tab. LXII. Fig. V.)
- ↑ The liberal manner in which the most eminent Naturalists in each department of Cryptogamic Botany have afforded their cooperation, has removed the diffidence I should otherwise have felt in publishing this difficult portion of the Antarctic Flora. To Dr. Taylor's extensive knowledge and keen discrimination I owe the diagnoses of the Hepaticæ and Lichenes. The large amount of Jungermanniæ which were collected, and the entangled manner in which they delight to grow, rendered their separation a task demanding no ordinary patience and skill. Further, the microscopic investigation of eighty different species and a much greater number of specimens, entailed upon that gentleman and myself an amount of labour which we would fain hope has resulted in the correct determination of a collection so unexpectedly novel and interesting. After a thorough examination by Dr. Taylor, the specimens have passed twice under my own eyes, preparatory to the completion of the descriptions and the drawings, which latter
have been further revised by Mr. Fitch when transferring them to the stone; this severe scrutiny will, it is to be trusted, reduce the errors into which I should otherwise personally have fallen, to a very small number.
Amidst so many new species it is not to be wondered that some are advanced with hesitation. In a tribe of plants so minute, a casual resemblance or a slight variation may often lead (without reference to the microscope) on the one hand to a union of what are not the same, and on the other to a multiplication of species. The difficulty of holding a middle course between these extremes is acknowledged. Our plan, when investigating the plants of new countries, so remote from any whose productions are explored, has been, to consider tangible characters, though often slight, as specific differences; at the same time stating the amount of difference, and hoping that future observers may obtain such materials as will either unite these with the plants of other lands, or tend still further to prove them distinct.
