151 



This Northern hard fern springs up at every turn when we reach the plat- 

 form of these grand hills, seeming as much at home among the heather as the 

 "bonny broom," liking equally the boggy ground as we descend to "Wentnor 

 and Medlicott, and the arid soil of the conglomerates. 



Further "Westward the marshy ground at Shelve and Middleton (marking 

 the existence and extension of the longitudinal fault, parallel to the great 

 line of.«elevation of the Silurian rocks) furnished, in addition to the usual 

 uliginous species, the rare and beautiful Spirantlics cestivalis, which I regret 

 to say has vanished from one of its oldest habitats, the Wyre Forest, Worces- 

 tershire. At the Light Spout, where the pure and sparkling rills of the Long- 

 mynd gorges rush from ledge to ledge down their rocky channels, spreading 

 out in their descent into a series of picturesque sprays, dashed into foaming 

 whiteness, the elegant Asplenium viride was gathered by Dr. Campbell, and I 

 trust (for the recurrence of a rare plant is often as certain as its disappear- 

 ance) may again be secured by scms fortunate explorer, who will then htve 

 the additional pleasure of associating a specimen with the beautiful scenes in 

 which he has travelled to find it. 



As the simplest plants have the widest diffusion, and the relative number 

 of cryptogamous to flowering plants increases from the equator to the Poles, 

 we should naturally expect to find the different tribes of mosses and lichens 

 well represented on these heights. The genera of mosses thus distributed cor- 

 responds with those peculiar to the campestral and mountain region of Scbimper 

 — the middle and northern zone. Among the most prominent species— and 

 space f 01 bids a more lengthy enumeration — are : Sphagnum cymbifolium and 

 S. Squarrosum, in the boggy grounds of Shelve, "Wentnor, &c. ; Phascum mutieum 

 and P. Subalatum, Gymno&tomum microstomum and G. tenue, Wtrssia con- 

 troversa and W. cirrhata, Dicranum scoparium and D. htteromaltum, Dicranum 

 squarrosum and D. cerviculatum, Tortula ambigua, T. convoluta, T. aloides, 

 and Ceratodon purpureus. 



Trichostomum lanvginosum, Orthotrichum offine, Encalvpta Vulgaris, 

 Schislidium apocarpum, Racomitrium heterotiickum, and R. aciculare, Tetra- 

 ph's pellucida, Pogonatum commune, Pogonatum nanum, and urnigerum : the 

 social Polytrichum, with its roots coiling round each other like a miniature 

 cable, and matting the plants into dense tufts, is a conspicuous feature on these 

 hills. 



The Entosthodon, Funaria hygrometrica, and the beautiful Baitrama 

 pomiformis and B. fontana, are frequent in the neighbourhood of the streams. 



Fissideus bryoides and F. lax>folius, with Anomodon VUiculosus on the 

 banks 



Trichostomum crispulum, with Encalypta strcptocarpa (though rare), 

 Teothecium myosuroide?, Lcslcca polycarpa, and L. Sincca are met with on the 

 limestone escarpments. 



