67 
MOSSES FROM PRE-CARBONIFEROUS ROCKS 
NEAR AUSTWICK. 
CHRIS. A. CHEETHAM, 
DuRING the past year, Mr. Haxby and I have been working 
over the pre-carboniferous rocks around Austwick and Helwith, 
the West Yorkshire records for the type of mosses generally 
associated with these siliceous rocks being sparse, and there 
being evidence in the lack of Ribblesdale records that the 
district had not been carefully worked. We have been amply 
repaid by the discovery of many new drainage records and 
also by finding in quantity mosses which are generally very 
scarce and in small patches in West Yorkshire. 
The district, when looked at casually, does not give much 
encouragement to a bryologist, the streams and gullies face 
too much to the south, requisite shade being lacking ; careful 
search however, soon dispelled this impression. One of the 
first interesting facts noted was that some of the typical alpine 
mosses, Andreeas, occurred in sheets at the low elevation of 
700-800 feet, with them being the alpine bryum also in quantity. 
This was an incentive to further search. Another isolated 
outcrop of rocks of a more slatey nature was found to be 
covered with Cynodontium Bruntont, quite a new moss to the 
district. Again, a few surfaces of rock sloping steeply north- 
wards were found to have a growth of Rhacomitrium protensum, 
quite suggestive of the Lake district ; on an outcrop facing 
directly south and seemingly very dry, a colony of Grimmias 
has taken hold, an interesting discovery being G. swbsquarrosa, 
already noted in this journal. 
There are other mosses which we expected to find frequently 
but which are not plentiful, Ptychomitrium polyphyllum, 
Hedwigia ciliata, and Pterogonium gracile are seen occasionally, 
but seem by their distribution to be only just capable of main- 
taining their footing. The first mentioned is generally found 
freely on this type of rock. An interesting occurrence of the 
Pterogonium is on the limestone at Stainforth Force in Ribbles- 
dale, a list of plants on page 76 of “ West Yorkshire Flora ’ 
cites this species as absolutely confined to slate rocks in West 
Yorkshire. A moss which is much more frequent than our 
flora states 1s Rhacomitrium heterostichum, being commonly 
found all over the district. Campylopus atrovirens is also 
widely distributed, and is a good index to the type of rocks. 
In passing from Crummock dale head to the Ribble valley, 
the path crosses over the limestone plateau of Moughton, 
and here we see that Hylocomium rugosum is by no means the 
rarity we supposed, for on limestone screes it is generally to 
be found, and in places in great profusion. Careful search 
1915 Feb, 1. 
