FIFTY YEARS OF BOTANY IN BRISTOL. 
31 
and varieties, and defined the new species, V. calcarea Greg. She 
enriched our flora also with Cerastium arvense and had the joy of 
finding on the N. Somerset coast that solitary clump of Scirpus 
Holoschcenus which is the sole evidence of the plant's existence in 
Britain away from the sand-hills of N. Devon. 
The Mendips, the southern lowlands, and the peat moors of our 
area have been dealt with on the ecological side by Dr. C. E. Moss. 
His admirable Geographical Distribution of Vegetation in Somer- 
set ; Bath and Bridgwater District (1907) ; has placed him in the 
front rank of writers on the subject. To-day, the Rev. E. S. 
Marshall is busy with an endeavour to bring the Flora of Somerset 
up to date in a re-issue ; and the botany of the wide county of 
Gloucester is in the capable hands of the Rev. H. J. Riddlesdell, 
who hopes shortly to let us have his results in print under the 
auspices of the Cotteswold Field Club. 
Turning now to the great group of Bryophyta, it appears that 
the study of mosses has been a favourite occupation amongst us 
throughout the life of the Society. This preference need not sur- 
prise one in the least, for, trifling and insignificant as they seem, 
these " little plants that lowly dwell " possess an elegance, delicacy 
and beauty of structure unsurpassed in the vegetation of the globe. 
Moreover, their pursuit is not restricted to the summer season, 
but can be taken up throughout the winter, long after all flowering 
plants are gone to ruin. They grow practically everywhere, are 
easily preserved, and may be revived at any time by immersion in 
water. 
Mention has been made already of Prof. Leipner's initial lecture. 
His " List of Mosses of the Bristol District " was published in the 
Society's Proceedings , and his herbarium of specimens is preserved 
in the Bristol Museum together with the moss-collections of some 
of his fellow members. Mr. W. W. Stoddart published a further 
list of local mosses in 1874 ; an d at about the same time a " Pre- 
liminary List of Somerset Mosses," by Dr. H. F. Parsons, of 
Beckington, appeared in the Botanical Record Club Reports. In 
the 'eighties, the Rev. C. H. Binstead was resident at Wells and 
studied the moss-flora of that neighbourhood. He contributed a 
list of mosses and liverworts to the Victoria County History of 
Somerset ; but the list was very incomplete, only containing about 
a quarter of the number known to occur in the county. The work 
of extending it largely devolved on Sir Edward Fry, the late 
Dr. Parsons, and Mr. W. Watson, of Taunton. The last-named 
botanist has recently compiled The Mosses of Somerset for the 
County Archseological and Natural History Society. From that 
complete account some of the particulars here given have been 
extracted. Among Bristol Naturalists of the last generation Mrs. 
Lainson, Mr. Edwin Wheeler, and Mr. W. E. Green were diligent 
moss-students. Mrs. Lainson's Clevedon collection has been 
arranged in the Weston-super-Mare Museum. The Green and 
Wheeler herbaria are in private hands. Miss I. M. Roper and Mr. 
