174 Yorkshire Naturalists at Riccall. 



Another rare moss which is buried in the peaty soil up ta 

 its apices is Dicranum spurium, easily distinguished by the 

 pointed apex of the individual stem. This moss was repeatedly 

 found, and man}^ of the tufts seen were very fine with long 

 stems. In the same habitat as the one affected by this Di- 

 cranum was a very rare creeping moss, Hypnum imponens, 

 distinguished from a near neighbour by the golden yellow 

 colour of the tufts. Both the above mosses once grew on 

 Strensall Common ; but drainage has destroyed the Dicranum^ 

 and has rendered the Hypnum very difhcult to find. 



Proceeding further afield we came to extensive wet ground 

 free from heather. Here was a magnificent growth of Hypnum 

 lycopodioides, with stems reminding one of a lycopodium or 

 club moss. Near this was another very rare moss, Hypnum 

 wilsoni var. hamatum, which occurred abundantly. Both these 

 fine mosses are golden yellow at all times, never green like 

 most mosses ; and this is probably due to their habitat being 

 stagnant water, for, in running water or in clear pools having 

 an outflow, such as those on Widdy Bank Fell in Teesdale, 

 other golden yellow mosses of the stagnant pools of the plains- 

 were found to be of a beautiful green colour. 



The Sphagna or Peat Mosses are well represented in 

 species on this common ; but owing to the long dry weather 

 they were not much in evidence. Submerged in the pools 

 that existed was 5. cuspidatiim, and around the borders of the 

 pools was 5. crassicladum. A common peat moss of the shallow 

 water splashes was 5. nijescens. Some of the rarer Sphagna. 

 and Harpidia seen by the writer in former years were not seen 

 on this occasion ; their existence depending no doubt upon 

 congenial conditions for their growth. In the deep ditch 

 crossing the common by the tall pine trees once grew very large 

 dark coloured plants of 5. crassicladum, floating on the water 

 in the ditch. On the present occasion the ditch was dry, and 

 the fine floating Sphagnum was reduced to a very poor stranded 

 representative. 



The Hepatics or Liverworts were also interesting. 

 Among the heather in many places the beautiful Blepharozia 

 ciliaris was seen. Fossombronia dumortieri, which ought to. 

 have been on the bed of a ditch, had disappeared, and its 

 place was occupied by other plants. Among the heather was 

 Calypogeia flssa. On the bare peat was Lophozia gracilis, 

 and by the side of sandy cuttings, Nardia scalaris, Cephalozia 

 hicuspidata, and Scapania irrigua ; the last in small quantity. 



Fungi. — Mr. W. N. Cheesman whites : — After despatching 

 the parties to the common, the writer spent the day investigat- 

 ing the coniferous woods outskirting the common on the western 

 side, and here were found twelve species of Mycetozoa ; one, 

 Comatricha clegans, being new to the county. This species differs. 



Naturalist, 



