32 CONNECTICUT GEOL. AND NAT. HIST. SURVEY. ([Bull. 
abruptly to a height of several hundred feet above the sur- 
rounding plain. Geologically, these ridges are a part of the 
Central Lowland. From an ecological standpoint, however, 
they conform with the Highlands. The Eastern and Western 
Highlands are made up for the most part of a complex series 
of crystalline rocks — gneisses, schists, and granites. The 
forces of erosion, acting on these, have produced an uneven 
and rugged topography. Like the trap ridges, this region is 
well wooded, and, while on the whole unsuitable for agriculture, 
it exhibits a diversity of conditions, and is characterized by a 
rich bryophytic flora. 
From a bryological standpoint, the most interesting isolated 
formation in the state is the Stockbridge limestone, which 
covers the greater part of the towns of Salisbury and Canaan, 
extending southward through the Housatonic Valley more or 
less continuously to Ridgefield. A few species grow in this 
region which have been collected nowhere else in the state, 
viz. : 
Lophosia Muellert Amblystegiella confervoides 
Barbula fallax Amblystegium noterophilum 
Thuidiiem abietinian Cratoneuron filicinum 
Other species occur here which, although characteristic of 
limestone regions, are found in other localities growing on 
serpentine or other rocks, e. g.: 
Preissia quadrata Selania glaucescens 
Frullania riparia Hymenostylium curvirostre 
Fissidens cristatus Ayurella gracilis 
Chrysohypnuim stellatum 
The distribution of the Bryophytes is somewhat restricted 
and frequently the habit of the individual plant greatly modified 
by differences of light and shade. In a general way two 
rather broadly defined classes may be recognized: light-loving, 
and shade-loving Bryophytes. In the first of these classes 
may be placed such species as — 
Riccia arvensis ‘Tortula papillosa 
Frullania eboracensis Bryn argenteum 
Anthoceros levis Theha Lescurii 
