APERA INTERMEDIA AS AN ALIEN IN BRITAIN 171 



Apera intermedia has just been described by Dr. Hackel 

 in " Annalen de Naturhist. Hofmus. Wien," xx. p. 430 



(1907.). 



At present it is known only from the three localities 

 mentioned, and is not included in Dunn's " Alien Flora." 



KEW, 2yd May, 1907. 



NEW AND RARE MOSSES FROM THE 

 WEST OF SCOTLAND. 



BY JAMES STIRTON, M.D., F.L.S. 



I HAVE, in the first place, to record the discovery of fruiting 

 specimens of Ulota pkyllantJia and Scotica from three localities 

 in the neighbourhood of Arisaig. How many capsules of each 

 have been secured cannot be reckoned at present certainly 

 twenty in the aggregate. As is well-known, U.phyllantha 

 is found in great profusion in the west of Scotland, includ- 

 ing the Outer Hebrides, where trees can be got to grow, also 

 in Wales and Ireland, Western and Northern Europe, and 

 throughout extensive tracts in Canada and North America ; 

 and yet I should say not more than a dozen capsules have 

 ever been found, and not more than half that number in good 

 condition. As in other instances, fruit has been found only 

 where U. Bruchii in a fertile state grew intermingled with 

 it. The fruit of U. Bruchii was ripe in September, but the 

 capsules of the other two must have ripened three months 

 previously. What influence the antheridia of U. Bruchii 

 could have had in fructifying the other two it is impossible 

 to say, but the probability is that there was a determining 

 influence of some sort. 



The fruit of U. Scotica is the longer of the two, and the 

 long, slender neck runs far down the seta. In one instance 

 of U. Scotica eight pale pinkish, short, broad teeth were seen, 

 with eight shorter cilia between ; the teeth were also seen to 

 split into two distinct parts. 



I have not yet ventured to separate the two kinds of 

 capsules from the mixed tufts, for the reason that the 

 fructified stems have leaves, for the most part, with only 



