A HISTORY OF NORTHAMPTONSHIRE 



several that are elsewhere rare or sparingly produced may be found here 

 in great profusion ; among these may be mentioned Tortula pusilla, T. 

 lamellata, T. rigida, T. ambigua, T. aloides, the rare Ceratodon conicus, 

 which occurs frequently and fruits freely on our mud-capped walls, with 

 Tortula intermedia, Pottia intermedia and P. lanceolata, Barbula revoluta, 

 Orthotrichum anomalum var. saxatile, etc. In the calcareous bogs Hypnum 

 commutatum grows in great profusion and variety, while H. falcatum^ 

 H. stellatum, Philonotis calcarea are other characteristic forms. 



A certain number of our mosses must be considered as the lingering 

 remains of a time when a great part of the county was woodland or open 

 waste land, with a richer moss-flora, much more akin than the present 

 one to the moss vegetation of the hilly and sub-montane districts of 

 Britain. Thus we find a few scattered plants, notably in Badby Wood 

 and Harleston Firs, of such species as Leucobryum glaucum, Plagiothecium 

 undulatum, P. Borrerianum, Ditrichum homomallum, Dicranum majus, Hylo- 

 comium loreum, Sphagnum subsecundum, Eurhynchium myosuroides, Tetraphis 

 pellucida, Bartramia pomiformis and a few others. Most of these occur 

 in a single station only, and are with little doubt doomed to extinction 

 at some not far distant period. 



A few notes may be added on some species that present features of 

 special interest. Among these is Bryum roseum, one of the most hand- 

 some of our mosses, which produces a rosette of large, deep green leaves 

 at the top of the stem, sometimes measuring as much as an inch across. 

 This, though a local plant and usually not found in any great abundance, 

 occurs in profusion in some parts of Badby Wood, where it may be found 

 in great beauty during the winter months, keeping its -freshness and 

 verdure unimpaired beneath a mantle of brown and withered oak leaves. 



The very beautiful Schistostega osmundacea is found in one or two of 

 our sandstone quarries, where it lines the walls of fox earths and other 

 crevices with its luminous patches, lighting up the cavity with a lovely 

 golden green refulgence. This was at one time supposed to be a kind 

 of phosphorescent glow, whence the plant acquired the name of the 

 'luminous moss,' but it is now known to be due to the highly refractive 

 structure of the protonemal threads, and in absolute darkness its beauty 

 disappears. 



A remarkable form of a somewhat common moss, Porotrichum (better 

 known as Thamnium) alopecurum, occurs in the old disused limestone 

 quarries at Weldon. 'On a recent visit, in the spring of 1898, the 

 bottoms of some low depressions under trees were carpeted with globular 

 masses, which were found to consist of living " balls " of this moss, 

 entirely detached from the soil and without rootlets, and from two to 

 four or five inches in diameter. The interior of the " balls " consisted of 

 the rigid, wiry stems proper to the species, which had branched pro- 

 fusely in all directions, and so produced this peculiar form. The branches 

 were extremely dense and numerous, many hundreds of secondary stems 

 going to make up a single tuft or " ball," and entirely hiding the 

 central stem or stems. From this, as well as from the size of the tufts, 



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