LYSICHITON CAMTSCHATCENSE (l.) SCHOTT 
201 
and, occasionally, of Cladonia and Peltigera species. The following 
mosses are found to be common in the upper more exposed parts of 
Fig. 4. A skunk cabbage pit, winter time. Photograph by Y. Westberg. 
the holes: Dicraniim scoparium, Hylocomium triquetrum, Hypnum 
cuspidatum and Hypnum splendens. The sides farther down are 
covered with Aulacomnium androgynum, Brachythecium asperrimtim, 
Eurhynchium strigosum and Mnium punctatum. 
How do these holes originate? Considering the great bulk of 
leaves produced by Lysichiton in course of the summer and bearing 
in mind that they rot in winter-time the assumption lies near at hand 
that the skunk cabbage kills the surrounding Sphagnum. If so, 
the question as to whether the leaves cause the death of the Sphagnum 
by the contact itself or indirectly by shading becomes of interest. 
In the spring, 1914, a square I meter by 1.5 meters in size was 
laid out in the middle of the bog and decaying leaves of Lysichiton 
were spread in one-centimeter-thick layer over the selected square. 
