CORNISH MOSSES AND HEPATICS 3 



CORNISH MOSSES AND HEPATICS. 

 By F. Rilsto:xe. 



The following records are from the eastern half of Vice-County 1 

 (West Cornwall), particularly the coast area from Newquay to 

 St. Agnes and thence inland to Truro and E-edruth, and from the 

 drainage areas of the Fowey and Looe Rivers in Vice-County 2 (East 

 Cornwall). 



The former area, which appears to have been almost untouched by 

 bryologists, affords a variety of habitats ranging from the calcareous 

 sand-hill tract of Perranporth with a well-defined bryophytic flora of 

 its own to the small peaty moors in which the streams take their rise. 

 Geologicall}^ the district consists of old hard quartz- veined slate im- 

 pinging on the granite outcrop of the Redruth Hills and with a small 

 patch of Pleistocene sands and gravels near St. Agnes Head. These 

 Tertiary deposits, of special interest in a county where practical!}" all 

 the rocks are of Primary age, are too small to have acquired a dis- 

 tinctive flora. Weisia mucronata occurs on them, but is not confined 

 to tliem. Carn Brea, the only hill of the Redruth group which I have 

 at all thoroughly examined, is, considering the great amount of 

 exposed granite, disappointingly poor in silica-loving species. 



The area dealt with in v.c. 2 comprises the major portion of the 

 Bodmin Moors — an elevated granite tract with tors and extensive 

 peat moors, and with a wealth of siliceous and moorland plants — and 

 the more or less wooded country lying between the moors and the 

 coast. With a moist climate and varied surface Cornwall possesses a 

 comparatively rich bryophytic flora. The Census Catalogue of 

 British Mosses out of a total of 601 species (exclusive of Sphagna) 

 credits Cornwall with 287 species, 2J:9 in v.c. 1 and 254 in v.c. 2. 

 The Hepatic Census Catalogue (Ed. 2) gives Cornwall 97 species of 

 hepatics, but while 90 are recorded for West Cornwall only 40 are 

 credited to the East Cornwall Ust. The latter area is certainl}^ not 

 so much poorer in species as these figures would suggest, but has 

 received less attention ; the following notes include localities for 

 14 species not credited to v.c. 2 in the Catalogue. Six plants in- 

 cluded in the list of hepatics given below — Aneura major, Fossom- 

 hronia Dumortieri, S]?lienolohus ovatus, Cephalozia media , Ptilidium 

 ciliare, and Scapania dentata var. amhigua — are new to Cornwall. 



I must acknowledge my indebtedness to Mr. D. A. Jones of 

 Harlech, without whose kind help my study of the Cornish Bryo- 

 phyta must have been much more laborious. 



Mosses. 

 Andrecea Rothii Weh. & MohY Ya.r. falcata Lindb. On gmnite 

 above 1200 ft. on Brown Willy, Kilmar Tor and Sharp Tor (2). 



TetrapJiis pellucida Hedw. Carn Brea Hill, Redruth (1), Tre- 

 lawne, near Looe (2). 



Folgtrichicm aloides Hedw. Common and consi:)icuous on clay 

 banks. — P. urnigericm L. Frequent near Polperro (2). — P. gracile 

 Dicks. Gollawater and Lambourne near Perranporth (1) ; near Red- 



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