263 



MOSSES OP MADAGASCAR. 



By C. H. Wright. 



In the following list have been brought together the mosses at 

 present recorded from the Island of Madagascar. The 224 species 

 and 8 varieties here enumerated must, from the nature of the 

 island, form but a small proportion of the total number existing there. 

 Of these, 23, collected by Borgen and Borchgrevink (Norwegian 

 Missionaries), were described by Dr. E. Hampe in ■ Linnaea,' vol. 

 "".. pp. 207-222. In the * Reliquiae Rutenbergianae,' part hi., 

 Dr. Karl Muller and A. Geheeb enumerated 54 species, of which 

 38 were new. Bescherelle, in the * Eevue Bryologique,' 1877, 

 p. 15, mentions 10 new species collected in Nossi Be by Boivin, and 

 describes them in the same Journal for 1880, pp. 17 and 83. 



As many of the specimens sent home are marked M Madagascar/' 

 without other indication of locality, it is impossible at present to 

 give any satisfactory account of the distribution of the species over 

 the island. Of the two collectors, through whom most of our 

 knowledge is due, the one, Borgen, collected principally (if not 

 entirely) in the Province of Imerina, especially on Mt. Ankaratra ; 

 the other, Hildebrandt, in the same province, and also in Nossi Be, 

 an island off the north-west coast. 



The arrangement followed in this list is that of the supplementary 

 part of Jaager's 'Adumbratio Florae Muscorum.' The number of 

 species in each section may be stated thus :— 



Sphagnaceas 

 Acrocarpi , 

 Cladocarpi . 

 Pleurocarpi 



Total , 



3 species 



119 „ 



2 „ 

 100 „ 



1 variety. 

 7 varieties 



224 species. 8 varieties. 



Sphagnum madagassum C. Miill. D. minuta Hampe. 

 • East Imerina (Hildebrandt ' 

 2106). 



8. obtimiisculnm Lindb. 



S. Rutenbergii C. Miill. Amba- 

 tondrazaka. 



Aneectangium impression Hampe, 

 Linn sea, xxxviii. p. 208 (Bor- 



gm). 



I. Mariei Besch. 



Nossi Be. 



Wema apiculata Kirer. Antan- 



Miill. 



anarivo (Borgen 11). 

 Tremaiodon pallidas G. 

 Nossi Be. 



T. reticulata C. Miill. Eel. Rut. 



iii. 205. Ambatondrazaka. 

 Dicrandla limosa Besch. Ambo- 



Dicranum dichotomum Brid. (D. 

 Boryanum Schwgr.). Antan- 

 anarivo (Meller). 



D. scopareolum G. Miill. Alama- 

 zantra (Borgen 7). 



Leucoloma (Pcecilophyllum ) aeutum 

 Mitt. 



L. arbiisculum C. Miill. 



/;. bifidum Brid. (Dicranwn Com- 



mersonituium C. Miill. 



/>. emiafolium Hampe, Eel. Rut. 

 iii. 206. Ambatondrazaka. 



/>. dickehjmoidis C. Miill. Linn»a, 



xl. 



240. 



Ambatondrazaka ; 



Mt. Ankaratra [Borgm 6). 



/v. holomitrioides C. Miill. 



ripossi (Hildebrandt 2101). L. pumttum C. Miill. Eel. Rut. iii. 

 Nossi Be (Boivin). 206. Maritandrano. 



