lyi;. M'Ardlk. — Byyuphyui of Glen of the Downs. 75 



recently been found in fruit in the south of England and in 

 several North American stations ; it grows luxuriantly at the 

 highest limit of vegetation on Chimborazo, and frequently 

 near sea-level in oiu" own country. Plagiothecium elegans 

 we found growing in dense patches of a shining green colour, 

 remarkably proliferous ; I have not previously found 

 specimens of this moss showing the asexual mode of repro- 

 duction so well as in this glen, and we were able to trace 

 the various stages of growth to the leafy axis and shoots 

 having root-hairs ; most of these adventitious shoots under 

 favourable conditions become perfect plants which may 

 bear the sexual mode of reproduction in their life-C3/cle. 

 This mode of adventitious branching has been delineated 

 by Mr. W. N. Allen in Plate II, drawn from specimens 

 collected in the glen. We found on examination that these 

 branches or ramuli are not always deciduous, but remain 

 on the stem until it decays, and are then furnished with 

 leaves and root-hairs and are enabled to carry on an in- 

 dependent existence, nourished by the detritus of the parent 

 plants, hence the moss is found growing in smooth close 

 patches of neat strata. Leucohryum glauciim is common 

 in this glen. The apical leaves often produce at their tips 

 root-hairs and develop tufts of minute plants, which fall 

 off and, nourished by the old decaying plants, flourish ; 

 this goes on year after year until large masses are produced 

 in which, when divided, the annual growths can be traced. 

 These are a few familiar instances of mosses known to 

 reproduce themselves by this curious mode of adventitious 

 budding. 



We collected 35 species and varieties of Hepaticae or 

 Scale-mosses, 6 of which are additions to Co. Wicklow. 

 They have been checked off by MacVicar's " Census 

 Catalogue of British Hepatics," 1905. As in the mosses, 

 the additions are marked thus "^ ; Pearson's " Hepa^ 

 ticae of the British Islands " has also been consulted. 

 Among them we were fortunate in finding Pnonolobus 

 Turncri (Hook.), on a sloping sand}/ bank in fruit, at about 

 700 feet. It is one of the rarest and most curious of the 

 leafy group, possessing characters bordering on several 

 sub-genera. 



