—32— 



forests, Waimate, Canterbury, N, Z., 1898, growing unattached. Scratched 

 up by the native wood hen, 'Weka.'" On a further specimen, Mr. Beckett has 

 written — "Growing in quantities, not attached to anything; probably scratched 

 up by the Wekas, and in the damp atmosphere continuing to grow and assuming 

 ■a bushy habit. " 



The Echinodium is of a loose, straggling habit, and the specimens are more 

 of the nature of the Porotrichum alopecurum referred to in the above cited 

 article than of the densely growing Leucobryum. 



PHILIPPINE BRYOPHYTES AND LICHENS 



[Presented at S. M. S. Meeting, Washington, D. C, December 28, 1911.] 

 C. B. Robinson 



In response to a request for a brief statement as to the flora of the Philip- 

 pines, so far as it is of interest to the readers of the Bryologist, the following may 

 give some indication of the present state of our information. 



Before the time of the American occupation, comparatively few collections 

 had been made in these groups, and these chiefly as side lines of investigation 

 by persons primarily interested in other things. Indeed, almost all of these 

 were obtained by the orchid collectors, Wallis and Micholitz, and by Semper, a 

 zoologist. Moreover, this state of affairs has partially continued. Among 

 recent collectors, there have been those who found their greatest interest in 

 mosses or hepatics, but unfortunately little has been published upon their 

 work. The great bulk of additions to our knowledge has come from the col- 

 lections of members of the Bureau of Science, and of its predecessor, the Bureau 

 •of Government Laboratories, some of the members of the Forestry Bureau, 

 including Mr. A. D. E. Elmer, and Mrs. Mary Strong Clemens, and every one of 

 these is interested in these plants as constituents of the Philippine flora rather 

 than for their own sake. 



In Paris' Index Bryologicus, there were credited to the Philippines, 54 

 genera and 116 species of mosses; in Die Natiirlichen Pflanzenfamilien, which 

 toward the end includes some of the results of recent work, 66 genera and 139 

 species. The mosses of all recent collections, both those belonging to the Bureau 

 •of Science and those of Mr. Elmer, who has kindly permitted me to examine 

 his lists, have been sent to Dr. V. F. Brotherus, and as a result of his determina- 

 tions, we now know 148 genera and 448 species. The hepatics, determined by 

 Dr. F. Stephani, show 65 genera and 331 species. The results regarding the 

 lichens have reached us in small part only, but at least 11 new species have been 

 described, and the collections themselves are equally numerous with those of 

 the other groups. In addition, a large quantity of material in all of these has 

 recently been obtained, which will doubtless add still further to the list of species. 

 The numbers would alone prevent an enumeration in this article of these species 

 •or even genera, but it is hoped that in the near future lists carefully prepared by 

 specialists will appear in the Philippine Journal of Science. 



