xii 
PREFACE TO LIST OF MOSSES, &C. 
South America, met with British species growing at high 
elevations on the mountains of the Peruvian Andes. 
All the fertile lands in the vale of York and other lowland 
valleys are highly cultivated by the plough for the growth of 
cereals and root crops, and the draining of portions for 
agriculture has destroyed the habitats of some rare species. 
A patch of the rare Paludella squarrosa was formerly 
found to grow on the North Car at Terrington, near Castle 
Howard. This portion of the Car was drained after the wet 
summer of i860, and a few years afterwards this rare moss 
had entirely gone. In the vale of York there are still left 
some uncultivated tracts of heathery moorland, such as 
Strensall Common and Stockton Forest, where a good many 
mosses find a moist suitable soil for their growth, and some 
rare species are met with. On the wettest portions several 
Sphagnums grow, and intermingled amongst these are some 
rare Hepatics. Damp woodlands are suitable places for 
mosses, and many species are found on the ground under 
the shade of the trees ; and other cortical species may be 
met with on the stems and branches of the trees. The shady 
side of walls and rocks, are also places where mosses grow. 
There are large tracts of uncultivated moorlands, both on the 
east and west of the great central vale of York, where many 
of the rarer mosses grow. 
Amongst the eastern hills the numerous glens and valleys 
made by the rivers Rye, Derwent, and their tributaries, 
are very good localities, and many rare species are found. 
The Esk and its tributary streams, in which are some deep 
sheltered glens and waterfalls, is a district rich in Hepatics, 
where some of the rarest species are met with. 
The hills on the western side of the vale of York are the 
highest. The Micklefell ridge in Upper Teesdale reaches an 
elevation of nearly 2,600 ft. above sea-level, and is the 
highest point of Yorkshire. Upper Teesdale is a well known 
