52 
Uncommon Moss Frnits . 
Baker’s mark of exclamation. It is probably thoroughly justi- 
fied, and Mr. Flintoff’s ambition to furnish a record ‘ without the 
addition of a note of exclamation’ is surely a very strange one. 
The other plant, C. oporinoides Boiss., is, in my opinion, 
merely a variety of C. biennis (see Journal of Botany , October, 
1932, p. 280), and I shall not be at all surprised should it be 
found in other parts of the country. That it has until this 
year (1932) been recorded, so far as I know, only from the 
Sierra Nevadas in Spain may well be due to lack of extensive 
and intensive study of C. biennis throughout its geographical 
area in this country and on the Continent. It does not seem 
to me likely that oporinoides has had a separate distribution 
from biennis sensu stricto. It may well be a mutational form 
which may crop up anywhere, and its occurrence at Fresh- 
water — a biennis area — may be significant. 
During the coming season plants should be gathered in 
North Yorkshire by some responsible collector and the same 
material be circulated to all those who have previously tried 
to furnish help, and here it should be noted that fruiting heads 
must be sent if determination is to be secured. The plants 
ought also to be observed in cultivation, and to this end ripe 
fruits must be collected on the spot, where pollination from 
plant to plant may have taken place. That oporinoides— 
though probably self-sterile — does produce fertile fruit in 
Yorkshire is shown by my success in raising the plant from 
seed. Meanwhile, may not all of us who have been drawn 
into this discussion agree to let the matter rest until we have 
all examined adequate and identical material. 
UNCOMMON MOSS FRUITS. 
CHRIS. A. CHEETHAM. 
The present season appears to be a good one for mosses, and 
some unusual fruiting plants have come under my notice. 
The first to attract attention was Anomodon viticulosus , 
which is a very common moss in our limestone districts, but 
which is seldom seen fruiting ; this winter it is very full of 
fruit in a place on Giggleswick Scar, where it has required 
careful search to find fruits in recent years. Then, on a road- 
side bank near Oxenber, Mnium undulatum may be seen bearing 
capsules ; this place is where our Bryological committee saw 
it in 1915, careful search in the intervening time having been 
unsuccessful. Trichostomum tortuosum is not often seen in 
fruit, but recently a tuft was seen in this condition. Lastly,, 
several fruiting plants^of Hylocomium squarrosum were seen with 
capsules, this moss being another very shy fruiting species. 
These examples suggest that the present time may well be used 
to see if further species are showing such signs of abnormal fruit- 
ing, preferably in well-known localities to the individual worker. 
The Naturalist 
