1919] Evans,— Notes on New England Hepaticae,—XV 163 
The species was based on material collected in the Giant Mountains 
of Silesia and Bohemia, and is widely distributed in Europe. In 
America it is recorded in the literature not only from New England 
but also from Greenland, Nova Scotia, Washington, California and 
Colombia. It grows in damp or wet localities and is often submerged. 
In temperate regions it prefers the higher mountains, attaining a 
vigorous development above the timber line; in more northern 
regions it sometimes descends to the sea level. It has been the cause 
of fully as much confusion as N. hyalina, and some of the older reports 
of its occurrence are in need of revision. Even the author of the 
species, Nees von Esenbeck, sometimes failed to distinguish it from 
Jungermannia amplexicaulis Dumort., a species which is scarcely 
more than an aquatic form of J. sphaerocarpa Hook. By subsequent 
writers it has perhaps been more confused with N. hyalina and other 
species of Nardia. The Colombian record noted above, the only one 
from South America, was published by Gottsche! many years ago 
and was based on specimens collected by Lindig in the province of 
.Bogotá. Gottsche described these specimens under a special varietal 
name, 6 bogotensis, showing that he did not regard them as typical; 
and in all probability they would now be considered distinct from 
N. obovata. The Alaskan and Californian records are likewise open 
to criticism. The first was based on specimens collected by Trelease ? 
at Farragut Bay and Kadiak; the second on specimens collected by 
Howe ? at Blue Lake, Humboldt County. In Trelease's specimens it 
has proved quite impossible to demonstrate a paroicous inflorescence; 
the plants are in all probability dioicous and therefore do not agree 
with N. obovata, as understood at the present time. In Howe's 
specimens the writer has found a single young perianth, in which the 
mouth is contracted to a distinct beak. "This would indicate that it 
belonged to the genus Jungermannia, and the specimen in question 
is evidently very close to J. sphaerocarpa Hook., if, indeed, it should 
not be referred to that species. The record from Washington, based 
on specimens collected by Foster * at Hamilton, seems to be correct, 
and the same is true of one of the records from Nova Scotia, based 
on specimens collected by Nichols? in the valley of the Barrasois 
1 Am. Sci. Nat. Bot. V. 1: 119. 1864. 
? Evans, Proc. Washington Acad. 2: 298. 1900. 
3 Mem. Torrey Club 7: 96. 1899. 
4 See Miss Haynes, Bryologist 12: 67. 1909. 
5 Bryologist 19: 41. 1916. 
