Page:VCH Worcestershire 1.djvu/102

A HISTORY OF WORCESTERSHIRE constantly splashed by the waters of the Severn, where is found Cynodontium Bruntoni. In the Teme valley there is a mass of travertine, called Southstone Rock, and here are found Weissia vertkillata, Eurhynchium putnilum, Leptobryum pyriforme and Campy lopus jiexuosus. But the richer field for these lime-loving species is in some of the old limestone quarries, where there is a good exposure of broken rock surface, as at Martley and Raven's-hill Wood, near Alfrick. Here are found Hypnum molluscum, H. chrysophyllum, Ditrichum Jiexicaule, Pottia lanceolata, Camptothecium lutescens and the more rare Trichostomum crispulum. At intervals in the Lias districts, small exposures of rock surface yield species special to limestone, as at Wolverton near Worcester ; here are found the rare Thuidium recognitum and the more common Anomodon viticulosum. At Habberley Valley there is a large exposure of sandstone rock, where are found Eucalypta vulgaris and Tortula marginata, and a rich growth of Brachythecium albicans, richly in fruit, and on similar rocks in the railway cutting near Bewdley are found a fine form of Ptychomitium polyphyllum and Grimmia trichophylla, which is very rare in Worcester- shire. Brick walls are a noticeable feature in many Worcestershire districts, but are rarely a home for any but the more common species such as Bryum ccespiticium and Grimmia puhinata ; but occasionally a rare or local species is found on these habitats, as at King's Norton, where are found Bryum pendulum and B. inclinatum, and near Alfrick the rare Bryum murale. But in many places the walls and fences are of sandstone, capped with mud or mortar. This forms a favourable matrix, and is usually well covered with mosses, as about Frankley and Rubery, where are found Tortula aloides, T. ambigua, and several of the Grimmiaceas usually rare in the county, such as Grimmia apocarpa, G. puhinata var. obtusa, Racomitrium fasciculare, R. lanuginosum and R. canescens ; but as these walls are of recent origin, and the species enumerated above are rarely seen on the exposed rock surfaces in Worcestershire, possibly these plants are merely colonists. The rarest moss (excluding Buxbaumia) found in the county occurs on banks in a lane near Halesowen ; here is found Tortula cuneifolia. This is usually a maritime species, and scarcely to be expected from a smoky inland locality, but it was in abundance and in good fruiting condition. It is also found abundantly near Malvern. The ordinary grass-grown banks of our lanes offer but faint hope in the struggle for existence for lowly plants like the mosses, the grasses and other flowering plants crowding out all but the more robust Hypna and Bryums. But in some of the deep cuttings of canals and railways are marly, shaly banks, where there is a constant drip of water ; here many species flourish, as at Hopwood. Here is found Amblyodon dealbatus, usually a native of boggy alpine and sub-alpine districts, with Hypnum commutatum, H. falcatum and Mnium undulatum in good fruit, one of our most stately species ; and again at Rubery, where are found the 64