222 ECOLOGY, PLANT GEOGRAPHY [Bot. Absts., Vol. VI, 



In the primary forests of the gullies more lianes and more ferns are found. The most 

 common tree is the myrsinaceous Rapanea macrophylla; but Albizzia, Podocarpus, and Salix 

 are common. Marattia fraxinea was common on the damp forest floors, and also the little 

 Begonia bracteosa. In dry places is Cheilanthes farinosa, the 2 m. high Dryopteris Bergiana, 

 and the 1 m. high Adiantum Poiretii. Other plants in this region are listed. Gradually the 

 gully woods pass over into the alpine forests. At an altitude of 2200 m. Ficus chlamyd- 

 ocarpa, 15 m. high, Nuxia Ledermannii, 8-10 m. high, and the liane Gouania longispicata 

 are conspicuous. Asplenium furcalum is an epiphyte in this region. — K. M. Wiegand. 



1506. Fleischer, M. Die Moosvegetation im Urwald von Bialowies [Lithuania]. [The 

 moss vegetation in the virgin forest of Bialowies.] Bot. Jahrb. 55 (Beiheft) : 113-124. 1919. — 

 The forest is mainly undisturbed by man. Though the variations in altitude are slight, 

 reaching an extreme of only 170 m., the conditions are very diverse, due to changes in the 

 moisture and water level. Swampy forests on the lowlands give place on the sandy ridges 

 to dry fir woods and Calluna heath, with alternating bogs and sphagnum moors between. 

 The richest moss flora is in the damp upland mixed forest which is mainly composed of broad- 

 leaved trees and firs. All the trees are more or less covered with epiphytic mosses and lichens, 

 and the humus is generally covered deep with moss. There may be recognized a xerophytic 

 bark moss formation requiring little food, and a more pretentious terrestrial formation, 

 mainly mesophytic. A vivid account is given of the moss flora, bringing out the resemblances 

 to the flora of central Europe and some of the differences. Many species are the same in both 

 localities. The moss flora of the forest floor is richer than that in Germany. The bark for- 

 mation and the ground formation are connected by the mosses living at the base of the trees 

 as Eurynchium striatum, Metzgeria furcata, Ptilidium ciliare, etc. On the moors a few mosses 

 are found among the carices, such as Aulacomnium palustre and Calliergon stramineum, mixed 

 more or less with sphagnum. The relation of mosses to light is very interesting ecologically. 

 Most prefer diffuse light to direct sunlight (skiophile), but this diffuse light may be too weak. 

 Wiesner showed that below 1 /70-1 /90 the total shade begins, in which no moss can grow. The 

 moss habit is a direct adaptation to the struggle for sufficient light. Neckera pennata shows 

 this; so also does the intermittent story-like growth of the soil mosses, which are less depend- 

 ent on the rainfall than on light. The rainfall theory is very poorly supported by the actual 

 conditions. The story-like growth lets in light. Many mosses and liverworts in the tropics 

 show this adaptation even better. Fan-shaped plagiotropic growth and sickle-shaped leaves 

 are an adaptation against too strong light. Most shade mosses have a plagiotropic growth 

 or horizontal branching. Curved capsules are probably not a response to light. Anomodon 

 spp. seem to require the least light, and are found in the darkest woods, where their chlorophyll 

 is still protected by the papillose cells. Even the protonema may be influenced by light, as in 

 Tetraphis pellucida. Phototropic mosses are fewer, and are mostly wanting in the primitive 

 forest. Many mosses are polyclinic, growing in light or shade, as Polytrichum commune. 

 Sphagnum is light loving, but the chlorophyll is protected by a cell screen — a method found 

 also in Leucobryum, and common in the tropics. The violet or brown colored walls in Sphag- 

 num protect the plant against sunlight. The best examples of such protection are found 

 among the tropical Neckeraceae and Hookeraceae, and among foliose liverworts. The 

 struggle in the shade is for a light optimum; in the open it is against too much sunlight. — 

 K. M. Wiegand. 



1507. Laing, R. M. The vegetation of Banks Peninsula [New Zealand], with a list of species 

 [flowering plants and ferns]. Trans, and Proc. New Zealand Inst. 51 : 355-408. 1919. — A gen- 

 eral introductory discussion of the physiography, plant distribution, and associations of the 

 region, is followed by an annotated list of species. — L. W. Riddle. 



1508. Ledermann, C. Einiges von der Kaiserin-Augusta-Fluss-Expedition [New Guinea]. 

 [Notes on the Empress Augusta River Expedition.] Bot. Jahrb. 55 (Beiheft) : 33-44. 1919. — 

 The expedition landed in February, 1912, at Madang, and travelled up the Sepik river, estab- 

 lishing a permanent base-camp about five kilometers above the village of Malu. The sur- 

 rounding region included mountain slopes, alluvial woods, swamps, sage-swamps, pandanus 



