ox THE BRISTOL MOSSES. 191 



As with the Phanerogams, so is it with the Mosses. A 

 temporary alteration of the soil will often introduce genera which 

 were not previous inhabitants of that particular locality. The 

 Funaria so regularly follows the lighting of a bonfire that the 

 Trench call it La Charbonniere, and many species of Splachnum 

 can only be gathered on the dung of Oxen and Foxes. 



Mosses are the most ubiquitous of plants. Every part of the 

 globe is a home for them, from the Arctic to the Antarctic circles. 

 They however prefer a cold climate to the hot and diy regions of 

 the equator. The same species, as a rule, inhabit the same 

 parallels of latitude, many of our Bristol Mosses being found in 

 I^orth America and the northern half of the continent. Some 

 will not grow except at a considerable altitude, as the 

 Conostomum horeale which is a Scotch moss never found at a lower 

 elevation than 3000ft. above the sea level. 



The remarks before made respecting the relation of the higher 

 classes of vegetation to the geological nature of the soil, apply 

 with equal force to the Mosses. Thus^'many species of Tortula 

 and Bryum choose sandstone, Scldstidium the trap, while other 

 species of the same genera will only flourish on limestone. A 

 most interesting confirmation of the truth of this has been long 

 known to the German botanists. In that country boulders occur, 

 which in former ages have been transported by icebergs from 

 extreme northern latitudes. On these may be seen Andrcea Rothii, 

 Grimmia tricliophylla, and G. leucophcea, but are not to be found 

 on the surrounding soil. 



The very great geological variety of the environs of Bristol, 

 has induced the author to make observations of this nature on 

 the plants of our district, and the following list of Mosses has 

 been copied from his note-book. "We are favourably situated for 

 moss collecting. The author's own herbarium contains 47 genera 

 and 127 species, a number which of course would be greatly 

 increased by the labours of other collectors, and a more complete 

 catalogue made than the one now ofi'ered of those which are 

 remarkable for selecting their own peculiar and favourite soil. 



