Vol. XXIII 



THE BRYOLOGIST 



November, 1920 



APPEARANCE OF MOSSES IN ECOLOGICAL HABITATS 



Ara VILLA Meek Taylor 

 In the June, 1920, number of the Botanical Gazette there appeared an article 

 by the present writer upon the Ecological Succession of Mosses in the Chicago 

 Region. ^ In the following table will be found an alphabetical list of mosses 

 collected during that work, arranged according to the ecological habitats in which 

 they were found. 



In order to avoid repetition and to reduce the table to the smallest scope 

 possible, the climax beech-maple forest habitat has been given only once, but the 

 reader should understand that in the region east of Chicago the beech-maple 

 seems to be the climax or ultimate forest association in all successions whether 

 they originate on dune sand, morainal clay, rock, or in water habitats. ^ The 

 oak forest may appear as a stage in any series and will differ little if at all in con- 

 tent on the various substrata. 



For explanation of ecological terms the reader is referred to the work of 

 Dr. Cowles^, and for a detailed description of the region to the article in the 

 Botanical Gazette. I wish also to express my greatest appreciation of the kind- 

 ness of Mrs. Elizabeth Britton, Mr. George B. Kaiser, and Dr. A. LeRoy Andrews 

 in the determination and verification of the mosses. 



The south and west shores of Lake Michigan give us a unique floral habitat. 

 We find here the meeting place of species typical of the north, the south, the 

 east and the west. What is true of the higher plants is also true to a great 

 extent of mosses. Vv^hile the Middle West is not usually thought of as a typical 

 moss habitat, yet of the 81 species given, all but three have been found within 

 a radius of a few miles of Chicago. The list is by no means complete owing to 

 the fact that it was not possible in some cases to obtain material sufficiently 

 good for identification in the time given to the work. Many regions afford 

 greater total quantity of moss but probably few offer greater variety within so 

 small an area. It is hoped that publication of the present list may lead to the 

 addition of other species by future workers in the same territory. 



The succession of mosses varies in much the same way as that of herbaceous 

 plants. Certain xerophytic types appear as pioneers on bare sand or clay. 



^ Taylor, Aravilla M. The Ecological Succession of Mosses in the Chicago Region. Bot» 

 Gaz. 69: 449-491. 1920. 



^ CowLES, Henry C. The Plant Societies of Chicago and Vicinity. Chicago, 1901, 

 The September number of The Bryologist was published December 2, 1920. 



