BOTANY 



rare Bryum uliginosum, Mnium subglobosum, Philomtis calcarea and Weissia 

 tenuis, all richly fruiting, and Hypnum stellatum var. prote?isu>n, in abun- 

 dance. 



The highlands of Worcestershire are not rich in either rupestral, 

 that is rock-inhabiting mosses, or in montane species ; none of the 

 Andresa have been found within its limits, and the Racomitriums, 

 Grimmias, and rupestral Dicranums are poorly represented. The 

 Abberley, Clent and Rowley hills have no characteristic mosses ; the 

 Bilberry Hill of the Lickey range is the home of some of the more rare 

 bog-loving species. Here are found Sphagnum cuspidatum, S. intermedmn, 

 Pogonatum urnigerum and Plagiothecium undulatum, all apparently rare in 

 the county. The Malvern range, which offers such varied rock surfaces, 

 yields, so far as present experience serves, but few of the mosses found on 

 such rocks. Here are found Hedivigia ciliata, Racomitriutn aciciilare, 

 Zygodon Mougeotii, Grimmia subsquarrosa, Dicranoweissia crispula, Webera 

 cruda and Eurhynchium crassinervium. 



The fallow fields, which offer a home for the short-lived species 

 such as the Pottia and Phascoid groups, whose whole existence is 

 bounded by the interval between autumn and spring, can only be 

 partially recorded ; their haunts are often inaccessible to the botanist, 

 the plants minute and scattered, and hence they are frequently overlooked. 

 The more frequent species are Pottia truncata and Phascum cuspidatum ; 

 but in the more retentive soils some of the rarer species are found, as at 

 King's Norton and Moseley, where are found Acaulon muticum, Pottia 

 intermedia, the rare P. Wilsoni, Ephemerum serratum and Physcomitrella 

 patens. 



The woodlands of Worcestershire are extensive, but add little to the 

 rarer moss flora of the county. Usually only such mosses as the larger 

 hypna, Mnium hornum and Catharinea undulata are found ; but in some of 

 the woods, watered by small streams, and where the surroundings are 

 more humid, as in the woods about Frankley and Pensax, the moss 

 growth is more varied. Here are found Pleuridium alternifolium, 

 Brachythecium illecebrum, Hypnum loreum, Brachythecium plumosum and B. 

 glareosum, and in Shrawley Wood the rare Dicranum montanum and Bryum 

 roseum. 



The arboreal species, that is those mosses growing on tree trunks 

 above the roots, are rare. The more frequent are Tortula Icevipila and 

 Dicranoweissia cirrhata, which are plentiful over a wide area. The more 

 rare species are found in those districts where the soil is either rich marl 

 or lias and the surroundings more humid, as near Shipston-on-Stour and 

 Tidmington, where are found the very rare Orthotrichum obtusifolium, 

 Tortula papulosa and Cryphcea heteromalla. 



The total moss flora of Worcestershire, so far as is yet known, num- 

 bers 238 species, but this is scarcely an exhaustive list. Only a limited 

 time has been given to the work, and probably a more thorough investi- 

 gation of the southern portion of the county will materially increase the 

 record. 



I 65 F 



