5 



[Reprint from The Bryologist, Vol. XIX, No. 3, May, 1916.] 



THE BRYOPHYTES OF NOVA SCOTIA, WITH SPECIAL REFERENCE 

 TO CAPE BRETON 1 



George E. Nichols 



Cape Breton, projecting so far out into the Atlantic that the distance to 

 the west coast of Ireland is less by a thousand miles than from New York, has 

 sometimes been referred to as "the long wharf of Canada." Politically it is a 

 part of the province of Nova Scotia, but geographically it is separated from the 

 mainland by the Gut of Canso, a narrow strait about a mile in breadth. Although 

 it has been visited by several botanists in recent years, very few additions ap- 

 pear to have been made to the list of bryophytes recorded from this region in 

 Macoun's catalogue.'^ During a short trip to Cape Breton in 1909 the writer 

 collected a number of liverworts and mosses not before recorded from there, and 

 this number has been considerably augmented on two subsequent trips, in 1914 

 and 1915, when about four months were spent in botanical investigations. The 

 primary object of the present paper is to present a list of the various species col- 

 lected in Cape Breton by the writer. Incidentally it has seemed worth while 

 to summarize briefly all previous records, so far as known to the writer, concern- 

 ing Cape Breton bryophytes, and to include some account of the brypohytes of 

 other parts of Nova Scotia. For the sake of convenience the term Nova Scotia 

 will be used to embrace only parts of the province outside of Cape Breton. In 

 order to economize space the following system of symbols has been adopted. 

 An asterisk (*) placed after a species indicates, "collected in Cape Breton by the 

 writer also"; a dagger (f), "recorded from Nova Scotia in Macoun's catalogue"; 

 a double dagger (|), "represented from Nova Scotia by a specimen either in the 

 herbarium of Yale University or in the herbarium of New York Botanical Gar- 

 den, but not recorded by Macoun"; a question mark [?], "some doubt as to 

 identity of specimens on which record was based." 



For assistance in the determination of various species, indebtedness is ac- 

 knowledged to the following bryologists: Mrs. Elizabeth G. Britton, Professor 

 Alexander W. Evans, Mr. Robert S. Williams, Professor A. LeRoy Andrews, 

 Dr. Abel J. Grout, Dr. George N. Best, Dr. Carl Warnstorf, Dr. Ingebrigt S. 

 Hagen and Dr. Leopold Loeske. 



'Contribution from the Osborn Botanical Laboratory. 



2 Catalogue of Canadian Plants: Part 6. Montreal, 1892; Part 7. Ottawa, 1902. 



