BOTANY 



Somewhat later than the above, Mr. F. K. Eagle of Bury St. Edmunds diligently collected 

 Mosses, Hepatics, and Lichens in the county. His collection is incorporated with that of Sir 

 C. Bunbury, who was also a collector, and whose herbarium is now in the University 

 Botanical Museum at Cambridge. 



In i860 was published Messrs. Henslow and Skepper's Flora of Suffolk, which contains 

 very good and reliable lists of all Orders of Cryptogams. The lists of Mosses, Hepatics, and 

 Lichens were, it is believed, in a great measure by Mr. F. K. Eagle and Mr. Stock of 

 Bungay, who combined their own observations with the records of the Botanist's Guide, and 

 doubtless other sources, such as Smith's English Botany and Paget's Natural History of Yarmouth. 

 The list of Diatomaceae and Fungi, both of which are very good, were by Mr. Skepper. 

 Little has been done since Mr. Skepper's death in 1867, but what has been done since that 

 time will be mentioned in the notices of each order. 



MUSCI {Mosses) 



In such a county as Suffolk only a very limited Moss flora could be expected, for there 

 are no high hills, much less mountains, and, indeed, a very small part of the county is more 

 than 200 ft. above sea level. Again, there are no hard rocks, nor indeed anything worthy of 

 the name of rock, and very little bog. Moreover the annual rainfall is rather scanty, averaging 

 for the county about 25 in., and there are no quickly-flowing streams with rocky beds in and 

 by the side of which so many mosses delight to grow. The extensive mud flats and large 

 brackish meres near the coast scarcely produce any species of mosses. 



It is not surprising therefore with such conditions that the mosses do not number quite 

 two hundred species, and that the Moss flora taken as a whole is somewhat featureless. With 

 very few exceptions the species are such as occur generally throughout the lowlands of 

 England and central Europe. Among the more noteworthy exceptions are Amblyodon 

 dealbatus, which was discovered by Mr. F. K. Eagle, and Cinclidium stygium, discovered by 

 Mr. Skepper, both at Tuddenham ; these species are generally of northern distribution ; the 

 latter is scarce in Britain. The cupola-shaped peristome of the Cinclidium is one of the most 

 beautiful objects in British Mosses. It was gathered by Mr. Skepper abundantly in fruit and 

 growing very luxuriantly both in November i860 and November 1862 ; it is very probable 

 that both these species are now extinct in Suffolk. 



On the other hand Tortula cuneifolia and Bryum Donianum are of southern, indeed 

 Mediterranean, distribution, and reach in Suffolk one of their highest northern points. 

 Other interesting species are Bryum lacustre, for a long time known only from Suffolk in the 

 British Isles, and now only recorded for two or three other counties, and Thuidium hystricosum. 

 The latter, though probably only a marked form of the more generally distributed T. atietinum, 

 is striking enough as a form and has only been recorded from a very limited area. Barhula 

 latifoUa, which is very rarely fertile, was collected by Mr. F. K. Eagle fruiting freely. Barhula 

 sinuosa from Sweffling was not recognized until lately, and with B. laevipila var. laevipilaeformis, 

 from Grundisburgh, and Pterigonium gracile from Icklingham, had not previously been recorded 

 for the county. Several species of the genus Hypnum may also be mentioned : H. Sendtneri 

 var. hamatum at Tuddenham ; H. rugosum, which is very fine in several places in the Breck 

 district ; H. fakatum at Gorleston and Tuddenham ; H. giganteum, not very uncommon in 

 Suffolk ; and H. elodes, Redgrave Fen, recorded by Mr. E. M. Holmes. 



Although the prehistoric deposits do not appear to have yielded such rich results in 

 mosses as those of Norfolk, yet, as recorded by Dr. Hind in his Flora of Suffolk, remains of 

 Hypnum turgescens have been found here and there in local deposits of clay. This, as pointed 

 out by Dr. Hind, is a typically Arctic plant, though it is also found at high elevations in tlie 

 Alps. It has recently been recovered for our flora in a living state by the Rev. C. H. 

 Binstead, who gathered it high up on Ben Lawers in 1902. 



Besides the list in Henslow and Skepper's Flora two papers on the Moss Flora of Suffolk 

 by the Rev. E. N. Bloomfield were published in the yournal of Botany in 1885 and 1888. 

 These two papers were combined and many new localities and a few new species added in 

 his ' List of Suffolk Mosses' printed in the Transactions of the Norfolk and Norwich Naturalists 

 Society for 1 900- 1, vol. vii, to which a few corrections were added in the Transactions for 

 1901-2. To these latter papers we would refer any one who desires detailed information 

 on this subject. 



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