—Be- 



ing of the stem clears up the identity of the plant, which is undoubtedly S. 

 ohlusum Warnst. As will be recalled, I had not previously seen specimens of 

 this plant from the North American continent, the only report of it being 

 represented by a stem or two found by Macoun in Ontario and now in the Berlin 

 herbarium. I had seen a specimen of it from Greenland.-^ It will probably be 

 found in greater quantity in British America and Alaska, but it is unlikely that 

 it reaches the United States. 



To revert for a moment to S. recurvum, I have now a specimen of it from 

 Panama, the first I have seen from North America south of the United States. 

 The specimen is labeled "5. pulchricoma/' which species I had included among 

 the synonyms of S. recurvum, and was collected by HeHon in August, 1912, in 

 the "Bois de Boquote, pres David (Prov. de Chiriqui)." 

 Ithaca, N. Y. 



ADVENTURES IN MOSSLAND.— A HUNT FOR DESMATODON 

 LATIFOLIUS (HEDW.) BRID. 



John W. Bailey 



Some six years ago. Prof. Holzinger sent me a small package of moss which 

 bore the following legend: " Desmaiodon laiijoUus (Hedw) Brid. On trunks of 

 old grease wood bushes, Ellensburg, Wash, (with Orthotrichum tenellum, which 

 proves to be 0. sordidum, with some misgivings). Can Dr. Bailey possibly 

 find a lot of this thing next season?" 



Prof. Holzinger possesses the uncanny faculty of often finding things I 

 never send him. Some time ago, in a large package of Grimmia Muhlenbeckii, 

 he picked out two little bits which he wrote were Rhacomitrium Flettii, and 

 asked me to obtain some for him. This moss was first gathered in the crater 

 of Mt. Rainier. Prof. Frye was contemplating a trip to the summit, so supposing 

 it was plentiful there, I asked him to bring down some of the moss that grew 

 in the steam jets. He collected a pocketful but we found it to be only PhilonoHs 

 fonlana. Therefore, when the good Professor asked me to find him Desmatodon 

 latifolius 1 naturally supposed that I was following another will-o-the-wisp. 



It was my good fortune to find myself this summer again in Ellensburg 

 and in the vicinity of the place where six years ago I had inadvertently gathered 

 the bit of Desmatodon referred to above. 



Ellensburg is in a large valley just to the east of the Cascade Mountains. 

 The Yakima River flows through it. It is in an irrigated region and has an 

 altitude of about 1,500 feet. It is an offshoot of the Great American Desert 

 and the flora and fauna of the valley are characteristic of the northern part of 

 the Desert. The location where this bit of Desmatodon grew \yas in a dry farming 

 area adjacent to unbroken land covered with the original growth of greasewood. 

 Last winter had been exceptionally favorable for dry-farming operations. There 

 had been heavy snowfalls on the hills and copious rains in the spring. It seemed 

 an excellent time to find the Desmatodon if it were to be found. 



21 Bryologist, XVIII, 5. 1915- Through the kindness of Prof. Thaxter I hove reexamined 

 the Harvard specimen and find it is also S. oblusum. 



