174 



ON A COLLECTION OF MOSSES FROM THE 

 KANARA DISTRICT. 



BY 



H. N. Dixon, M.A., F.L.S., 



Northampton, England. 



I have in my herbarium numerous unpublished species of Mosses 

 from various parts of India, including the types of a considerable 

 number of new species, mostly from the Madura District, S. India, pro- 

 posed by Mons. Cardot, and received from him before the war, Various 

 reasons prevent the publication of these at the present time, not least 

 the high cost of printing. A new Moss Mora of India is greatly 

 needed, and if in the course of the next few years this should be 

 possible, it may be best to include the publication of these new 

 species in such a work. 



The present collection, however, was made in a somewhat restric- 

 ted area, and it seems desirable to treat it independently, being made 

 in a little worked district, and with some rather special features of 

 geographical and climatic interest. It was made by Mr. L. J. Sedg- 

 wick, P.L.S., on a trip with some friends to the Gairsoppa Falls, via 

 Kanvar and the Devimane Ghat, all in N. Kanara, in October 1919, 

 and the country further inland South and West of Dharwar during 

 three preceding years. 



Mr. Sedgwick has collected mosses in several parts of the 

 Bombay Presidency, in or near the Western Ghats ; some of the 

 results have been already published (cf. Journ. of Bot. 47, p. 157 ; 

 48, p. 297 ; 49, p. 137 ; 50, p. 145), while others await publication. 



The rapid diminution in the rainfall as one proceeds eastwards 

 from the crest of the Ghats is very striking, and the character of the 

 moss-flora is naturally very directly affected by it. Thus at Castle 

 Eock, about 15. 5° N. lat , and 74. 5° E. long., the rainfall is about 

 250 in., not much less than its maximum in the Ghats (at Mahablesh- 

 war it reaches 276 in.) ; at Anmod, which is close to Castle Kock, it 

 has already fallen to probably about 150 in. ; while at and round about 

 Dharwar, less than 50 miles inland, it is about 30-40 in., annually. 



It will give some idea of the collecting ground, and at the same 

 time will avoid much repetition of details in the list of mosses if I re- 

 produce here some notes sent me by Mr. Sedgwick as to several of the 

 localities where gatherings were made. 



