BOTANY 



are by no means exclusively confined to such places, and the soil or sub- 

 stance on which they grow is sometimes remarkable. One curious little 

 plant, says Hooker, is found only on the perpendicular faces of the pure 

 white chalk pits that abound in Kent and Sussex, while Fumaria hygro- 

 metrica, common in our country, is almost sure to spring up where any- 

 thing has been burned on the ground. Of mosses characteristic of the 

 chalk we have of course many, while the arboreal species are numerous, 

 especially in the Weald, which is the most humid part of the county. 



The mosses of Sussex have had unusual attention paid them. 

 Borrer, Davies, Jenner, Roper, Bloomfield, Mitten and Unwin have 

 severally given us the results of their investigations concerning them. 

 In 1870 Mr. C. P. Smith, in his Moss Flora of Sussex, published by the 

 Brighton and Sussex Natural History Society, issued a compendium of 

 them, with the names of their discoverers and the localities in which 

 they occur. In this excellent little work too is recorded the stations 

 noted by previous observers. From it I chiefly quote those subsequently 

 given. 



In 1878 Mr. W. C. Unwin of Lewes published his beautiful 

 Illustrations and Dissections of the Genera of British Mosses, and in a Supple- 

 ment, which he kindly sent me, gave the following account of two local 

 species found only in Sussex: "■ Seligeria calcicola. Mitten. Not un- 

 common on chalk nodules on the sides of disused and turfy banks, on the 

 northern slopes of the downs round Lewes. Frequently observed on 

 isolated pieces of chalk in and around Hanmer Park, also on Wolston- 

 bury Hill. As a British plant it is only found in Sussex. Not noticed 

 in Wilson's Bryologia. Acaulon triquetrum. Spruce, occurs on the cliffs 

 between Brighton and Rottingdean and between Rottingdean and New- 

 haven, frequently associated with Pottia cavifolia. It is a minute 

 periodical plant, occurring only in some years. First discovered by 

 Borrer in 1844. Since found occasionally by other Sussex bryologists 

 and by Mr. Mitten, in various parts of the Sussex coast.' 



The following species have been considered peculiar to the county 

 also : Ephemerum tenerum, Astomum Mittenii, Anacalypta ccespitosa, Funaria 

 microstoma, Bryum canariense, Brachthecium campestre, all detected by Mr. 

 Mitten of Hurstpierpoint, with Acaulon triquetrum found by Borrer, 

 Barbula canescens by Jenner, and Barbula vahliana and Furhynchium 

 Vaucheri discovered by Davies. 



According to Mr. C. P. Smith we have in Sussex 305 mosses, and 

 additions have since been made. The following list is a selection of the 

 more notable, and is arranged according to Hobkirk's Synopsis of British 

 Mosses. 



SPHAGNACEiE BRYACE^ 



Sphagnum fimbriatum, Wils. Henfield Acrocarpi 



— Mongeotii, Nees. Aihdown Forat Archidium phascoides, Brid. IFet heaths 



— auriculatum, Schpr. Hayward'i Heath Ephemerum tenerum, Hampe. Weald 



— subsecundum, Nees. Bexhill — sessile, B. & S. Henfield 



— cuspidatum, Wils. Blackdown Acaulon triquetrum, Spruce. Rottingdean 



