A HISTORY OF WORCESTERSHIRE 



constantly splashed by the waters of the Severn, where is found 

 Cynodontium Bruntoni. In the Teme valley there is a mass of travertine, 

 called Southstone Rock, and here are found Weissia vertkillata, Eurhynchium 

 putnilum, Leptobryum pyriforme and Campy lopus jiexuosus. But the richer 

 field for these lime-loving species is in some of the old limestone quarries, 

 where there is a good exposure of broken rock surface, as at Martley and 

 Raven's-hill Wood, near Alfrick. Here are found Hypnum molluscum, 

 H. chrysophyllum, Ditrichum Jiexicaule, Pottia lanceolata, Camptothecium 

 lutescens and the more rare Trichostomum crispulum. At intervals in the 

 Lias districts, small exposures of rock surface yield species special to 

 limestone, as at Wolverton near Worcester ; here are found the rare 

 Thuidium recognitum and the more common Anomodon viticulosum. At 

 Habberley Valley there is a large exposure of sandstone rock, where are 

 found Eucalypta vulgaris and Tortula marginata, and a rich growth of 

 Brachythecium albicans, richly in fruit, and on similar rocks in the 

 railway cutting near Bewdley are found a fine form of Ptychomitium 

 polyphyllum and Grimmia trichophylla, which is very rare in Worcester- 

 shire. 



Brick walls are a noticeable feature in many Worcestershire 

 districts, but are rarely a home for any but the more common species 

 such as Bryum ccespiticium and Grimmia puhinata ; but occasionally a rare 

 or local species is found on these habitats, as at King's Norton, where are 

 found Bryum pendulum and B. inclinatum, and near Alfrick the rare Bryum 

 murale. 



But in many places the walls and fences are of sandstone, capped 

 with mud or mortar. This forms a favourable matrix, and is usually 

 well covered with mosses, as about Frankley and Rubery, where are 

 found Tortula aloides, T. ambigua, and several of the Grimmiaceas usually 

 rare in the county, such as Grimmia apocarpa, G. puhinata var. obtusa, 

 Racomitrium fasciculare, R. lanuginosum and R. canescens ; but as these 

 walls are of recent origin, and the species enumerated above are rarely 

 seen on the exposed rock surfaces in Worcestershire, possibly these 

 plants are merely colonists. 



The rarest moss (excluding Buxbaumia) found in the county occurs 

 on banks in a lane near Halesowen ; here is found Tortula cuneifolia. 

 This is usually a maritime species, and scarcely to be expected from a 

 smoky inland locality, but it was in abundance and in good fruiting 

 condition. It is also found abundantly near Malvern. 



The ordinary grass-grown banks of our lanes offer but faint hope in 

 the struggle for existence for lowly plants like the mosses, the grasses and 

 other flowering plants crowding out all but the more robust Hypna and 

 Bryums. But in some of the deep cuttings of canals and railways are 

 marly, shaly banks, where there is a constant drip of water ; here many 

 species flourish, as at Hopwood. Here is found Amblyodon dealbatus, 

 usually a native of boggy alpine and sub-alpine districts, with Hypnum 

 commutatum, H. falcatum and Mnium undulatum in good fruit, one of 

 our most stately species ; and again at Rubery, where are found the 



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