\pril~l 

 1957 J 



Beau&lehole & Learmonth, The Bxaduk Caves 



207 



rotting tree-fern trunks. Fortunately a fine group of Soft Tree- 

 ferns still grows undisturbed in the Fern Cave where the}- are 

 inaccessible except with ropes. 



Special attention was paid to the moss flora. We limited our 

 activities to two or three caves per trip so that a thorough investi- 

 gation could be carried out. At the end of the first day some forty- 

 five species had been collected. From then on nearly every cave 

 contributed additions, and as with the ferns, certain species are 

 apparently confined to certain caves. When the final cave was 

 combed, the total had risen to sixty-two species. Of this pleasing 

 tally (and we have no doubt that others exist ) eight proved new to 

 the Count\- of Xormanbv. The niajoritv of these novelties indicate 



Open Church Cave, with Openings of Underground Caves. 



an extension of range from the Otways ; they are Cvathophoriun 

 hulbosum, DistichopliyUum pideliellitui, Goniohryum subbasilarc, 

 Hyinowdon piliferus, Lopidium concinnum. Rhychostcgiclla nutri- 

 citlata had not been recorded west of Melbourne. The other two 

 proved to be important discoveries and warrant special comment: 



Anocctangium bcllii — G. (). K. Sainsbury in his Handbook of 

 the Kf%\' Zealand Mosses gives as distribution: "Endemic, the dis- 

 tribution is perhaps confined to the South Island". Our record then 

 is the first for Australia. It is a feature on the damp walls of several 

 caves at Byaduk, indeed it is the commonest moss in the "Flower 

 Pot" — forming masses up to several inches across. 



