ovata, per lentem reticulata, areolis subrotundis, sordidè fusca, lævis, nonnitens, suprà plana marginibus acutis, subtùs modicè convexa ore coarctato, marginato. Apophysis nulla.
Operculum conico-cylindraceum, capsulâ brevius, apice lateris superioris in mucronem levissimè incurvum producto, basi incrassatâ, cum calyptrâ sæpissimè deciduum.
Peristomium penicillum densum album referens, longitudine circiter dimidii capsulæ, formatum Ciliis indeterminatim numerosissimis (200 et ultrà) capillaribus inarti- 318] culatis æqualibus rectis albis opacis, pluribus e capsulæ parietibus ortum ducentibus, centralibus (circiter 50) columellam terminantibus!
Membrana interior capsulæ maturæ exteriori approximata, vasculisque numerosis connexa.
Columella longitudine capsul{{ae]} maturæ, in quâ latiuscula, corrugata, colli brevis margine incrassatâ, intra cilias desinens in processum filiformem solidum indivisum apicem operculi attingentem cique arctiùs adhærentem.
Semina minutissima, lævia, in cumulo viridia, seorsùm hyalina.
Obs. I. I have named this remarkable genus in honour of my esteemed friend Dawson Turner, Esq., a gentleman eminently distinguished in every part of cryptogamic botany, and from whom, after he has finished the incomparable work on Fuci, in which he is now engaged, we may expect a general history of mosses.
Obs. II. The strict relationship between Dawsonia and Polytrichum in most respects, and the striking dissimilarity of their peristomiums, may tend, perhaps, in some degree to lessen our confidence in the characters derived from that part; for there seems in this case but little analogy between the two structures. The better to understand that of Polytrichum, I was induced along with Mr. Turner to examine it in the unripe capsule: in this state the cavity of the operculum was found completely filled with a cellular pulp, similar to that composing the columella, of which it appeared evidently to be a continuation; to the surface of this pulp the teeth of the peristomium were closely pressed,
