THE 



JOURNAL OF BOTANY 



BRITISH AND FOREIGN. 



TENERIFFE MOSSES. 

 By H. N. DixoxN, M.A., F.L.S. 



LIRRART 

 PEW YORK 

 BtlTANiCAl. 



UAKDHM 



(Plate 509.) 



The Mosses dealt with in this article were collected by Dr. 

 J. H. Salter, and sent to me for determination. Comprising about 

 sixty packets, they included a comparatively large number of 

 plants of note, three being new species, one of them of an extremely 

 interesting nature, and several others being additions to this group 

 of islands. For purposes of reference it will be well here to 

 enumerate the new discoveries, an asterisk being prefixed to those 

 new to the Atlantic Islands, and a dagger to those new to the 

 Canaries but recorded previously for one or more of the other 

 groups : — ■ 



jWeisia crispata Jur. *Aulacomniiovi androrjijnnm 



■''Encahj2)ta vulgaris Hedw. Schwaeg. 



■''Grimmia flaccida Lindb. ■■'Brachythecium Salteri, sp.nov. 



■''G. tergestina Tomm. ■'■'Homalothecium harhcUoides, 



■'■Orthotrichinn rupestre Schleich. sp. nov. 

 ■•'•Bryum validicostatum, sp. nov. 



Dr. Salter has written the succeeding notes as to the localities, 

 and the conditions under which the collections were made : — • 



" The Mosses enumerated in the following list were collected 

 coin the island of Teneriffe during a stay of fourteen months (Dec. 

 ^ 1908 to Fel). 1910). The greater part of this time was spent at 

 ■-- Guimar, a small town and health resort situated at an elevation 

 of about 1200 ft. upon the southern side of the island. The 

 aspect is south-east, and, being sheltered by the central ridge of 

 the island, the climate is peculiarly dry and sunny. No rain is 

 expected during the five summer months. The rainfall in 1909 

 was ten inches, which may be taken as about the annual mean. 

 The substratum is everywhere volcanic, largely consisting of old 

 lava-flows. It follows that all Mosses growing in the open are 

 exposed to extreme desiccation. Last season even the winter 

 rains failed, so that there was severe drought in January and 

 February of the present year. The succession of the zones of 

 vegetation in the island is well known. Above the cultivated 

 Journal of Botany.— Vol. 49. [Jan. 1911.] b 



