THE BRYOLOGIST 
Vol. XXII March, 1919 No. 2 
ENCALYPTA LACINIATA IN CENTRAL NEW YORK 
Elias J. Durand 
In the Bryologist for January, Mr. Ralph S. Nanz writes of the occurrence 
of Encalypta laciniata (E. ciliata) in Enfield Ravine, Ithaca, N. Y., stating that 
it had been found only in that one ravine, and that no very logical explanation 
for its appearance so far from its natural habitat in the north could be given. 
The writer’s acquaintance with this moss dates from a bright day in April, 
1890, when, as a freshman, he went to collect mosses in Fall Creek Ravine, bor- 
dering the Cornell Campus, with the late Professor W. R. Dudley, that prince 
of men and of teachers. Two species gathered that day had such striking peculi- 
arities that they made a strong impression on his mind and still remain vivid 
in his memory. One was Buxbaumia aphylla, in the woods north of Triphammer 
Falls, the other was Encalypta ciliata , on the rocks at the north end of the swing- 
ing bridge. Specimens of both collected in 1890 were preserved, and plants 
have since been noted repeatedly in the same spots. The Encalypta certainly 
was no stranger to Professor Dudley at that time. The writer was constantly 
on the lookout for it in suitable spots during many subsequent years. While 
exact data are not at hand, the impression is strong that Encalypta has been 
seen in most of the larger ravines about Ithaca. At any rate, specimens were 
collected in Six-mile Creek near the narrows, in Fall Creek, and in Enfield. 
Doubtless, specimens in the Dudley Herbarium, at Stanford University, will 
prove its wider range. Certainly it is not confined to Enfield, nor is its occur- 
rence there exceptional. 
It is well known that several northern species of flowering plants, notably 
Saxifraga aizoides, Pinguicula vulgaris and Primula Mistassinica, inhabit the 
deep, cold ravines about the head of Cayuga Lake. The explanation for their 
occurrence by Professor Dudley doubtless applies also to mosses, that they 
“may have been driven down by the ice-sheet and have retained their foot- 
hold after its recession, finally retreating to the wet, shaded walls of the ravines 
which were then forming, where they now remain, isolated from the home of 
the species.” 
University of Minnesota, Minneapolis. 
The January number of the Bryologist was published February 20, 1919. 
