Page:VCH Worcestershire 1.djvu/103

 BOTANY rare Bryum uliginosum, Mnium subglobosum, Philomtis calcarea and Weissia tenuis, all richly fruiting, and Hypnum stellatum var. prote?isu>n, in abun- dance. The highlands of Worcestershire are not rich in either rupestral, that is rock-inhabiting mosses, or in montane species ; none of the Andresa have been found within its limits, and the Racomitriums, Grimmias, and rupestral Dicranums are poorly represented. The Abberley, Clent and Rowley hills have no characteristic mosses ; the Bilberry Hill of the Lickey range is the home of some of the more rare bog-loving species. Here are found Sphagnum cuspidatum, S. intermedmn, Pogonatum urnigerum and Plagiothecium undulatum, all apparently rare in the county. The Malvern range, which offers such varied rock surfaces, yields, so far as present experience serves, but few of the mosses found on such rocks. Here are found Hedivigia ciliata, Racomitriutn aciciilare, Zygodon Mougeotii, Grimmia subsquarrosa, Dicranoweissia crispula, Webera cruda and Eurhynchium crassinervium. The fallow fields, which offer a home for the short-lived species such as the Pottia and Phascoid groups, whose whole existence is bounded by the interval between autumn and spring, can only be partially recorded ; their haunts are often inaccessible to the botanist, the plants minute and scattered, and hence they are frequently overlooked. The more frequent species are Pottia truncata and Phascum cuspidatum ; but in the more retentive soils some of the rarer species are found, as at King's Norton and Moseley, where are found Acaulon muticum, Pottia intermedia, the rare P. Wilsoni, Ephemerum serratum and Physcomitrella patens. The woodlands of Worcestershire are extensive, but add little to the rarer moss flora of the county. Usually only such mosses as the larger hypna, Mnium hornum and Catharinea undulata are found ; but in some of the woods, watered by small streams, and where the surroundings are more humid, as in the woods about Frankley and Pensax, the moss growth is more varied. Here are found Pleuridium alternifolium, Brachythecium illecebrum, Hypnum loreum, Brachythecium plumosum and B. glareosum, and in Shrawley Wood the rare Dicranum montanum and Bryum roseum. The arboreal species, that is those mosses growing on tree trunks above the roots, are rare. The more frequent are Tortula Icevipila and Dicranoweissia cirrhata, which are plentiful over a wide area. The more rare species are found in those districts where the soil is either rich marl or lias and the surroundings more humid, as near Shipston-on-Stour and Tidmington, where are found the very rare Orthotrichum obtusifolium, Tortula papulosa and Cryphcea heteromalla. The total moss flora of Worcestershire, so far as is yet known, num- bers 238 species, but this is scarcely an exhaustive list. Only a limited time has been given to the work, and probably a more thorough investi- gation of the southern portion of the county will materially increase the record. I 65 F