BOTANY 



plant recorded (Spruce) as abundant in Upper Teesdale under the name 

 of JJlota DrummonJii. There is considerable evidence now that Ulota 

 Bruc/jii was mistaken for U/ota Drummondii, which was not well understood 

 in former times (Dixon). On a small patch of boggy ground close by 

 this plantation and growing amongst tall grasses and shrubs are some 

 interesting bog mosses {Sphngria), the rarest being Sphagnum Girgensohnii, 

 vars. commune and hygrophilum (Horrell). 



Proceeding along the road up the river we soon reach the large 

 mountain Widdy Bank. Fell, which supports a wealth of rare mosses 

 probably unsurpassed anywhere else in England. By a stone on the fell 

 the pretty Dicranella heteromalla var. sericea fruits freely, although 

 invariably barren elsewhere. On the boggy slope of the fell is an 

 abundance of Catoscopium nigritum, associated with what is usually a 

 high alpine moss, var. compactum of Bryum pendulum. Close by grows the 

 rare and golden-coloured moss Hypnum lycopodioides, and the interesting 

 Cinclidium stygium. On the top of the fell, growing among bog mosses 

 {Sphagna), is the very rare Campylopus setiformis ; but the rarest moss in 

 the British Isles is found here, the only habitat. This is Tetraplodon 

 Worms kioldii, first found in 1870 (Slater), but undetermined until refound 

 in 1 90 1 (Horrell and Jones). This is a moss of the arctic regions, but 

 the Teesdale plant is conspicuous for the large size of its leaves, these 

 being considerably longer and wider than in a specimen collected in 

 Lapland (Schimper). Widdy Bank Fell is exceedingly rich in forms of 

 bog moss {Sphagna), there being nearly twenty-eight species and eighty- 

 one varieties on this fell alone (Horrell). The rarest of these are 

 Sphagnum Girgensohnii, S. Russowii, S. fVarnstorfti, S. quinquefarium, S. molle, 

 S. teres, S. parvifolium, S. imbricatum, and S. medium. Of these the usually 

 rare S. imbricatum, S. Russowii and S. medium occur in great abundance 

 and luxuriance (Horrell). In boggy land near the Cauldron Snout are 

 great mounds of S. imbricatum, and S. fuscum, which have been noticed 

 there for twenty or more years (Horrell). 



At the foot of Widdy Bank and on the banks of the Tees are 

 Hypnum Patientice, and Cynodontium polycarpum var. laxirete^ the latter 

 known only elsewhere from Glenlyon, Perthshire. 



Proceeding now to the fine vertical cliffs of basalt called Falcon 

 Clints, which form the edge of the Widdy Bank on the left bank of the 

 Tees, we find in the chinks and on the ledges of rock a wonderful 

 association of rare mosses. The genus Rhabdoiveisia has here all its three 

 species represented, ywj^^A-, denticulata, and crenulata. The genus Weisia is 

 represented by tortilis, crispata, and several varieties of rupestris, including 

 the new variety affinis. The beautiful vivid green Bryum Mildeanum is 

 here, as also Dicranum falcatum, Pterogonium gracile, Cylindrothecium con- 

 cinnum, Trichostomum nitidum, Diphyscium foliosum var. acutifolium, Hedivigia 

 ciliata, Andreaea petrophila var. acuminata, and Funaria Templetoni. On 

 limestone rocks above the clints is Hylocomium rugosum, and at the foot 

 of the clints Archidium alter nifolium. Curving round these clints up the 

 river we reach the Cauldron Snout, where the hitherto still, deep waters 



63 



