58 | REVUE BRYOLOGIQUE 
the latter part of the journey indeed might have proved very 
fruitful, judging from the two or three specimens gathered, if 
the conditions of weather and limitations of time had not preclu- 
ded everything but the merest ‘* obiter lecta ”. The results of an 
hour or two's collecting near the summit of the Gemmi Pass espe- 
cially indicated an extremely interesting local distribution ofmoss 3 
vegetation, and one which calls for some remark. 
The approach to the Gemmi Pass on its north side is one of 
_gradually increasing bleakness and intensifying alpine conditions, 
_ until at the summit, after passing the gloomy Daubensee, one 
_ finds oneself among almost glacial conditions, and in point of 
fact at 2,300 m. alt. one is exactly on a level with the lower end of 
the Lämmern Glacier. These conditions are reflected in the vege- 
tation ; such plants as Cerastium latifolium, Ranunculus parnassi- 
folius, Androsace helvetica, being noticeable, while among mosses à 
the characteristic dwarf forms of the higher grass slopes, e. g. 
Bartramia Œderi var, condensata, Swartzia montana var. brevifo- 
lia, Meesia trichodes var. alpina, were associated with Tayloria 
lingulata and other alpine species. It is therefore with conside- 
rable surprise that upon descending the zigzags of the southern, 
Valaisian side of the pass, even though it be but two or three 
hundred feet, one finds the moss vegetation entirely altered, and 
the high alpine species replaced by subalpine and even meridio- 
nal types. In all probability this striking feature of plant distribu- 
tion would be found even more accentuatéd than my gatherings 
show if the moss-flora of this escarpment were more carefully 
studied. My collecting was made in a short descent and re-ascent 
of about 1000 ft. from the summit, and was limited to about half 
an hour’s gathering of a few wayside plants, mostly covered with, 
and frequently rendered unrecognizable by the fine white dust, 
characteristic of the Rhone valley, from the much trodden and 
wind-swept path. : 
My gatherings here, made at an altitude of from 2000 — 
2300 m., included Tortula inermis (ec. fr.), a plant of (for the most 
part) southern distribution, finding its principal home on sunny 
banks and walls of the Mediterranean région, rarely spreading 
northwards along the sheltered river valleys of the continent, 
and not extending to Great Britain or Scandinavia, except for à 
Single station in Scotland; Barbula unquiculata, for which 
species 2100 m. is the highest altitude recorded by Limpricht 
(though Tgathered it in a still more elevated station on the Engst- 
= ligen-Grat a few days later) ; T'ortula ruralis, a species ordinarily 
= distinctive of lowland regions, here mixed with stunted and 
