Page:VCH Surrey 1.djvu/93

 BOTANY Nephrodium Oreopteris, Desv. Osmunda regalis, L. Polypodium, L. Ophioglossum, L. vulgare, L. vulgatum, L. Phegopteris, L. (extinct) Botrychium, Sw. Osmunda, L. Lunaria, Sw. SUMMARY OF VASCULAR CRYPTOGAMS Genera Speciei Filices 10 20 Equisetaceae I 7 Lycopodiacez I 3 Marsileaceae i i Total genera and species. . 13 31 The total genera and species of vascular cryptogams for the whole of Britain is 25 and 70 respectively. MOSSES (Musct) Surrey possesses a moss flora closely resembling that of Kent and Sussex but is less favoured than either as regards conditions suitable for the growth of these plants. The climate is drier, the land better drained and the rocks softer and less durable. Geologically the three counties are identical, the same formations occurring in all and in about the same proportion, the chief distinction lying in the limited outcrop of Hastings Sand. In Sussex this bed covers a large area and composes the High Rocks at Tunbridge Wells, furnishing many species of considerable interest. In Surrey however it only occurs in the extreme south-east. The county is intersected midway by the chalk which extends from the west as an increasingly broad belt towards the east and north-east. The highest land is formed by the ridge of Lower Greensand which lies to the south of the downs as a series of hills covered with heather and well wooded with pines and larches. In the west on the Bagshot sand are extensive undulating commons rising into low hills capped with clumps of pines, and with bogs and marshy ground of considerable extent, and in the south-west also are several large commons with numerous ponds and alder swamps. The bryology of the county has received considerable attention from many workers of ability, but some districts still require careful investiga- tion as is shown by the recent addition to our list of several striking species. There are however few lists in existence and none of much importance with the exception of an excellent paper on the ' Mosses of Kew,' by Mr. E. S. Salmon. Among others who have contributed to our knowledge of the mosses of the county is Dr. Capron, who devoted many years of his residence at Shiere to the collection of species growing in his neighbourhood. His collection and records however are unfortu- nately not accessible. Dickson also collected, and Black, the latter working chiefly in the Dorking district, many of his specimens being in the British Museum Herbarium. More recently, Mr. E. S. Salmon, who has devoted considerable time to the mosses of the Reigate district,