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TWO ANOMALIES AND A CURIOUS SIGHT. 
B. D. Gilbert. 
In Dixon’s Handbook of British Mosses, under the description of Leuco- 
bryum glaucum, it is said that “ A curious state from Hedsor forms spher- 
oidal balls or cushions, entirely unattached, consisting from stems radiating 
outwards from a central point, and showing no lack of vigorous growth in 
spite of the freedom from anything like attachment, which obviously must 
have lasted for a considerable period.” During the summer of 1905 I was on 
the west branch of the Unadilla River, in the northwestern part of Otsego 
Co., New York, hunting for mosses. In the hemlock woods a great deal of 
Leucobryum glaucum grew upon the ground. I stooped to pick up a tuft of 
it, and it proved such a “cushion ” as is described in above quotation. It is 
about inches deep and 2 > l A inches across. It is almost perfectly round on 
the edges, and both above and below the growing ends of the stems are 
shown. They truly “radiate outward from a central point.” The fact, how- 
ever, which Mr. Dixon did not know, not having seen the plant in silu, is 
that the cushion grew in a matrix of its own diameter and about half an inch 
deep. But it was entirely unattached to the soil or any substratum, and 
must have derived its material for growth from the atmosphere and the rain 
which fell upon it. This is my fir ( st anomaly. 
In August of the same year I visited Caroga and Canada Lakes in Ful- 
ton Co., N. Y. The western end of Caroga Lake is very deep, and the shore 
is lined with large rocks that extend down into the water so that one can row 
directly alongside them, and occasionally land upon them. Many mosses 
grow on these rocks, and one of the rocks in particular, a very large one with 
a steeply inclined surface, was chiefly covered with Sphagnum acutifolium , 
probably the variety quinquefarinum , a short form but well fruited. Dixon 
says of this moss that it grows “ very fine and well marked on wet rocks in 
mountain woods.” The surface of the rock was kept constantly moistened 
by water that trickled down over it from damp ground above. The anomaly 
here was that the Sphagnum grew freely on a rock which contained no cov- 
ering of soil. Of course the trickling water explains the apparent anomaly. 
The mountains around Canada Lake are much higher than at Caroga, 
and there several cliffs at the summit. On West Canada, one of the landing 
places goes by the name of “ Big Rock” camp. It is so called from a big 
rock lying up the hill about forty rods from the water. It is as large as a 
good-sized house, and probably thirty feet high. The face, which fronts 
down hill, is nearly vertical, and this front is well covered, from five feet 
above the ground upward, with separate fronds of the lichen Umbilicaria 
Dillenii Tuckerm. Each drab colored button is centrall)?- attached to the rock 
from which it is easily detached entire. The edges of the fronds do not touch 
each other, and the sight of this large surface so completely studded with 
them is one not often encountered save by the lichenist in search of specimens. 
The rock appears to be of Plutonic or Archaean origin, and consequently 
unstratified. I am not familiar enough with lichens to know whether the 
species is confined to this class of rocks or not, but it grows there with great 
luxurience, and is a sight well worth seeing. Clayville, N. Y. 
