BOTANY it was clear that they must represent the growth of many months, prob- ably of several years, and this without connection of any kind with the soil or other matrix, so that the nutriment must have been obtained entirely from atmospheric moisture ; they were however perfectly fresh and vigorous. No doubt detached stems of the moss, the ordinary form of which was growing in close proximity, had been carried at various times by the wind into the hollows, where the moisture of the air, to- gether with the natural vitality, apparently a marked character of this species, combined not only to resist decay, but even to promote growth, resulting in the very unusual phenomenon described. . . . The Rev. C. H. Waddell informs me that the same curious growth of P. alopecurum here described has been observed in Ireland by the curator of the Fernery, Botanic Park, Belfast, who called it " the rolling moss," and described how it grew without roots and was blown about from place to place by the wind ; he kept it as a curiosity among his ferns.' ^ In the following lists of some of the more uncommon or noteworthy species the term ' characteristic ' must be taken with some latitude. It is rarely that a moss is so absolutely confined to any particular matrix as never to occur elsewhere, and it must not be assumed that this is the case here. Hypnum revohens and H. intermedium, for example, here given as characteristic of calcareous bogs, are indeed with us found only in the highly calcareous bogs of north and south Northamptonshire, but this is by no means universally the case. MOSSES CHARACTERISTIC OF CALCAREOUS BOGS Philonotis calcarea, Schimp. Hypnum stellatum, Schreb. — revolvens, Swartz Hypnum intermedium, Lindb. — falcatum, Brid. — commutatum, Hedw. MOSSES CHARACTERISTIC OF NON-CALCAREOUS BOGS OR MARSHY GROUND Sphagnum cymbifolium, Ehrh. — subsecundum, var. contortum, Schimp. — acutifolium, Ehrh. — intermedium, HofFm. Splachnum ampullaceum, L. Aulacomnium palustre, SchwSgr. Philonotis fontana, Brid. Bryum pseudo-triquetrum, SchwSgr. Hypnum cordifolium, Hedw. — giganteum, Schimp. MOSSES CHARACTERISTIC OF THE [OOLITIC] LIMESTONE Ditrichum flexicaule, Hampe Ceratodon conicus, Lindb. Pottia recta. Mitt. — bryoides, Mitt. — lanceolata, C. Mall. — Starkeana, C. Mali. — intermedia, FOrnr. Tortula pusilla, Mitt. — lamellata, Lindb. — ambigua, Angstr. Tortula rigida, Schrad. — aloides, De Not. Barbula sinuosa, Braithw. Weisia tenuis, C. Mall. Trichostomum crispulum, Bruch Encalypta streptocarpa, Hedw. Orthotrichum anomalum, var. saxatile, Milde — cupulatum, Hoffm. Ephemerum recurvifolium, Lindb. 1 Journ. o/Northanli Nat. Hist. Soe., vol. x. pp. 250, Z79. 83
