THE BRYOLOGIST 



Vol. XXIII 



July, 1920 



No. 4 



ADVENTURES IN MOSSLAND 



POLYTRICHADELPHUS LyALLII MiTT. 



John W. Bailey 



It was mid-September. My son and I had driven from Seattle to Mount 

 Rainier in the afternoon of a perfect day. The early fall rains had washed from 

 the atmosphere the smoke and dust of a long, dry summer, leaving the air clear 

 as crystal 



Camping for the night just below the Nisqually Glacier, we ate our supper 

 and made our plans to spend the following day on the snowfields above Paradise 

 Valley. The high-bush huckleberries were plentiful and while my son filled a 

 pail with them I investigated the numerous boulders for Rhacomitrium sudeticum 

 which grows everywhere on the rocks and produces numerous capsules. I gathered 

 also Andreaea petrophila. On the alders beside the river there was an abundance 

 of the ubiquitous Pseudoleskea that seems to defy any fixed identification, vary- 

 ing as it does with the place of growth and with the altitude. 



Early next morning we continued our journey to the Valley. We saw the 

 pikas busy with their haymaking and occasionally heard the shrill whistle of a 

 marmot. The mosquitoes had gone with the disappearing snow. 



Leaving our car at the ranger's cottage, we followed the trail up the Valley 

 to the foot of the great barrier, beyond which lie the snowfields and Paradise 

 Glacier. The path up the barrier zigzags back and forth over bare rocks and 

 gravel. It is easy walking. However, one who is not used to climbing must go 

 slowly. Just below the top the path runs through grass. Scattered about are a 

 few alpine firs and hemlocks, the last outpost of the trees on this part of the 

 mountain. Here we threw ourselves upon the grass, taking advantage of what 

 shade we could find under the diminutive trees. A few late asters were still 

 in bloom, but what caught my bryological eye was the splendid growth of moss — 

 I thought it was Polytrichum commune — flourishing here, high up on the mountain 

 side. You may imagine my delight when on investigation I found it not com- 

 mune, but Polytrichadelphus Lyallii, a moss I had long hoped to gather. Prof. 

 Frye had given me specimens which he had collected upon the slopes of Mount 

 Hood, but I was not aware of the fact that it grew upon Mount Rainier. Poly- 

 trichadelphus Lyallii is the only representative of this genus that occurs in West- 

 ern North America. It is easily recognized by its clustered and curiously ir- 

 regular-angled, truncated capsules. Its stems are robust and its growth luxur- 



The May number of The Bryolosist was published June 14, 1920. 



