Hab. Margins of swamps and wet springy places, on the ground and decayed logs: very common and variable.

H. orthocladon, H. contextum, H. tenax, H. inordinatum, and H. variuni, attributed to this country only, are (together with a few other supposed species, including H. radicale, found both here and in Europe) so variable in their characters, and pass so gradually into each other, that it appears to be quite impracticable to define their specific limits, or to separate them from large forms of H. serpens, to which they have been referred by Müller and others.

TAB. 122.—Hypnum orthocladon.