66 



HEPATICS OF DENBIGHSHIRE. 



WM. HY. PEARSON. 



The interesting paper on the Mosses and Hepatics of Denbigh- 

 shire, by Mr. D. A. Jones, in The Naturalist for September, 

 1917, induced me to look through my herbarium to see if I 

 had any records of my early botanizing in that county, and I 

 have been able to find a few packets of hepatics collected many 

 years ago. 



My first visit was to Llangollen in April, 1874, and I find 

 three packets of that date — (i) Plagiochila asplenioides L. ; 

 (ii) Chiloscyphus polyanthus L. (this I well remember collecting 

 in a stone trough on the road to Berwyn, growing in great 

 masses, this was the first hepatic I knew) ; and (iii) Lophocolea 

 hidentata L. In May, 1875, I visited Llangollen again, and find 

 two packets, one marked Castell Dinas Bran, which contains 

 a few stems of Frullania Tamarisci L., and another marked 

 Moel Sych, a mountain in the three counties of Denbigh, 

 Merioneth and Montgomery, which I ascended on this visit 

 with a non-botanical party. 



It was a long and wearisome tramp, and from a botanical 

 point of view, very uninteresting, for there were no rocks to 

 climb, only a gradual ascent through bracken and heather, and 

 that may account for the meagre result, for I can only find 

 one small packet labelled Moel Sych. Perhaps another reason 

 was that none of my companions cared anything for botany, one 

 in particular had an open contempt for the study, and I can 

 remember him quoting with derision from The Friend, ' What 

 is Botany at this present hour ? A huge catalogue. The 

 terms, system, method, science are mere improprieties of 

 courtesy, when applied to a mass enlarging by endless apposi- 

 tions, but without a nerve that oscillates, or a pulse that throbs 

 in sign of growth or inward sympathy. The innocent amuse- 

 ment, the healthful occupation, the ornamental accomplishment 

 of amateurs.' 



At that time I was beginning to take an interest in mosses 

 and hepatics, and another unappreciative companion failed to 

 see what pleasure I could see in their study, or, as he said, in 

 ' dirt sorting.' As I said, I have only been able to find one 

 packet containing the spoils of that day, it contains Diplo- 

 phyllum, albicans L., one of the few hepatics beginners seem 

 to be always collecting, and Eucalyx obovatus Nees., not in 

 very good condition, but with care I have found a few involucres 

 shewing paroicous inflorescences. 



In May, 1877, I visited Llangollen again, but can only find 

 one packet, which contains three species — (i) Fossombronia 

 pusilla L., there is only a little of this, but one plant has a ripe 

 capsule, and from the examination of the spores, there was no 



Naturalist, 



