﻿Mosses of Bermuda 



Elizabeth G. Britton 



There has been no list of the mosses of Bermuda published 

 since 1885,* when William Mitten studied the collections made 

 by the Challenger Expedition and enumerated five genera and 

 eight species, of which two were described as new. One of these, 

 Trichostomum bermudanum Mitt., has proved to be endemic and 

 two others, Tortula melanocarpa Mitt, and Isopterygium tenerum 

 Mitt., have been referred to older names. No localities were 

 recorded. 



A taxonomic study of the flora of Bermuda was undertaken by 

 the New York Botanical Garden in 1905! in cooperation with the 

 Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia, and several visits 

 have been made by Mr. Stewardson Brown and Dr. and Mrs. 

 N, L. Britton at various times of the year in pursuit of this 

 investigation. These have yielded twenty genera and twenty- 

 eight species of mosses and added another endemic species, 

 Campylopus hermudianus. It will thus be seen that the island 

 is not rich in mosses and the most widely distributed species is 

 Trichostomum bermudanum which occurs rather commonly on 

 stone walls and limestone rocks, particularly in shady moist 

 places. A few of the rarer species are likely to become extinct 

 with the clearing, burning and cultivation of the marshes, notably 

 the species of Sphagnum, Campylopus, Syrrhopodon and Iso- 

 pterygium; a few others are only to be found in a few deep dark 

 crevices and caves in the parish of Hamilton. Besides the two 

 endemic species, there are eight cosmopolitan ones belonging to 

 the five genera Bryum, Eucladium, Funaria, Hymenostylium, and 



* Voyage of H. M. S. Challenger, pp. 89-92. 1885. 





t Bermuda in September, Jour. N. Y. Bot Card. 6 



i: 153-158. 1905; Botanical 



Exploration in Bermuda. Jour. N. Y. Bot. Gard. 13: 



189-194. 1912; Gardens of 



Bermuda. Jour. N. Y. Bot. Gard. 14: 172. 1913; Jou. 





