-87- 



Donning a big straw hat, I spent one afternoon looking over and under the 

 greasewood growth covering three or four acres. I discovered two or three patches 

 of what seemed to be the Desmaiodon, none bigger however than a ten cent 

 piece. Moreover, none of these were growing on the greasewood, but always 

 on the ground and located at the northeast corner of the bushes. 



This would never do. Where was the mother lode of this interesting little 

 moss? Across the county road is a large stretch of wild pasture land, and the 

 next day, in the hot sun and ever-blowing wind, I tried again to locate more of 

 the moss. There were plenty of jack rabbits under the bushes but no Desmatodon. 

 Getting well into the field, in my search I lifted the branches of a large bush and 

 there blinking at me in the bright sunshine, that I had let in on him, sat an 

 immense horned toad. He must have been the great grandfather of all the 

 horned toads in the vicinity. He was as surprised as was I. I took him by the 

 tail and pulled him out into the sunshine. He lay still for a moment and then, 

 "Zip!" he was gone. But, I had found where a rare moss grows. Water 

 had stood here earlier in the season and from its favorite location in relation to 

 the bushes I was able to collect quite a quantity of the moss. However, until 

 I had met with my good friend the horned toad, "Lady Luck" was not with me. 



Prof. Holzinger recently informed me that what I had found after my 

 diligent search was not a Desmatodon, but Encalypta leiomitra Kindb. This 

 is related to Encalypta rhabdocarpa and was first collected by Macoun in 1888, 

 growing on rocks beside the Clearwater River, Lat. 57°, Athabasca, Canada. 



It is a long way from the Clearwater River in Athabasca to Ellensburg, 

 Washington, and I consider myself fortunate in finding this interesting moss. 

 I shall not, however, give up the search for Desmatodon latifolius, which evi- 

 dently grows upon wood rather than upon the ground. The leaves resemble 

 those of Tortula, curl slightly, are bent inward, and show the mid-rib promi- 

 nent on the back of the leaf. The rosette of leaves is about a sixteenth of an 

 inch in diameter and the plant is scarcely more than a little head of leaves. 

 The capsules are long for the size of the plant. Under the microscope, the 

 point is the beautiful part of the leaf, appearing as though a piece of crystal 

 had been dovetailed into the apex by some master workman. 



Lesquereux and James give the range of Desmatodon latifolius as the Rocky 

 Mountains and west to the Cascade Mountains. I have never gathered it on 

 Vancouver Island or seen any that has been collected on the Coast. Dr. Grout 

 makes no mention of it in his mosses of the North Eastern United States. Dixon, 

 in his manual, refers to it as cornmon on the continent, but not occurring in the 

 British Islands. 



None of the moss collected was found on greasewood, all grew on little peaty 

 knobs of dried grass, that were elevated above the general surface of the ground. 

 Had not the Desmatodon which Prof. Holzinger found with the Onfiotrichum 

 chanced to have grown on the greasewood we should not have discovered the 

 Encalyptra leiomitra, and the pleasure and satisfaction of finding it would not 

 have been mine. 



' The hunt for the Desmaiodon gave me an introduction to the little community 

 of mosses which grow under the protection of the greasewood. Orthotrichum 

 sordidum was plentiful on the old trunks in the interior of the bushes. Tortula 



