A HISTORY OF WARWICKSHIRE 



Staffordshire) the Warwickshire list of mosses compares favourably with 

 that of any of the surrounding counties. The county is poor in limestone 

 rocks, so that lime-loving species are only found on the mud-capped walls 

 of the lias districts in the Avon valley, or on the mortar of old walls in 

 other portions of the county. The mortar of an old wall near Hatton is 

 the only British locality where the lime-loving Grimmia crinita is to be 

 found. The woodlands are extensive. In the Avon basin their soils are 

 usually marl or clay, and yield many plants of interest, such as Hypnum 

 brevirostre. In the more northern woods the soils are usually peaty in 

 character, yielding a rich abundance of the more common species, such 

 as many of the Sphagnum* and rarely Dicranum montanum, which was 

 first recorded from a Warwickshire wood as a British species. Trees 

 growing in fields and hedges are a noticeable feature in the county, and 

 are often tenanted by some of the rarer Tortuli, as T. papillosa, the beau- 

 tiful Cryphaa heteromalla and the rare Orthotricbum obtusifolium. Heath- 

 lands are of small extent, those of Sutton, Coleshill and Kenilworth being 

 the most extensive. A small expanse of heathland occurs near Great 

 Wolford, yielding many of the commoner ericetal species, and from this 

 locality Dicranum undulatum was first recorded as a British species. The 

 rivers are usually softly flowing and full of beauty, but their alluvial 

 banks are not rich in moss vegetation. The water-washed roots of the 

 trees and shrubs that fringe their banks, however, are often clad with 

 mosses both rare and common. 



The total list of the moss flora of Warwickshire amounts to 240 

 species, and this is probably an exhaustive record. Comparing the 

 Warwickshire moss flora with that of the neighbouring counties, we find 

 that Oxfordshire has 193 species, Northamptonshire has 220 species, 

 Leicestershire has 180 species, Staffordshire has 276 species, but in this 

 county there are mountainous rocks and a large area of moor and bog, 

 many rapid streams, and limestone in abundance. Worcestershire has 

 276 species, but has not been exhaustively examined. 



In order to show roughly the distribution of the mosses enumerated, 

 the county has been divided into the two districts watered by the rivers 

 (i) the Tame, (2) the Severn, and the numbers made use of in the list 

 following refer to these districts respectively. 



Sphagnum cymbifolium, Ehrh. i, 

 var. squarrosulum, N. & H. 

 var. congestum, Schp. i 



papillosum, Ldb. i 



var. confertum, Ldb. i 



- subsecundum, Nees. I, 2 



var. contortum, Schp. i, 2 

 var. obesum, Schp. i, 2 

 var. viriJe, Boul. I, 2 



- teres. Var. subteres, Dixon. 



- *squarrosum, Pen. i 



- acutifolium, Ehrh. i 



var. rubellum, Russ. i 

 var. patulum, Schp. i 



Sphagnum Girgensohnii, Russ. I 



fimbriatum, Wilt, i 



- intermedium, Hoffm. i 



- cuspidatum, Ehrh. i 

 Tetraphis pellucida, Hedw. I, 2 

 Catharinea undulata, W. & M. 



var. minor, W. & M. i 

 var. Haussknechtii, Dixon. 

 Polytrichum nanum, Neck, i, 2 

 var. longisetum, Ldb. 2 



aloides, Hedw. i, 2 



var. Dichoni, Wallm. I 



urnigerum, L. I 



piliferum, Schreb. i, 2 



I, 2 



