Nova Scotian Mosses

Abstract

Bartramia ithyphylla and Oligotrichum hercynicum are reported from Nova Scotia for the first time. Additional distributional reports of Barbula reflexa, Fontinalis flaccida, F. sullivantii, and Weissia hedwigii, all rare in Nova Scotia, are given. The reports ofF. sullivantii and W. hedwigii represent northern extensions of their ranges in eastern North America. Recent reports to the contrary, the seta of O. hercynicum is found to be variable in color. The recent Checklist of the Mosses of Canada (Ireland et al. 1980), which included unconfirmed literature reports, lists 470 species, 64 varieties and 6 forms of mosses from Nova Scotia. Ireland (1982) was able to verify by examination 381 species, 19 varieties and one form from the Maritime Provinces; he, however, considered that future studies would undoubtedly confirm more species from the former list as well as others not yet reported. This paper reports two species new for Nova Scotia and gives additional distributional records of four rare Nova Scotian species. All collections were made by me and are deposited in my personal herbarium with duplicates of all in CANM. The nomenclature follows that of Ireland (1982). Barbula reflexa (Brid.) Brid. VICTORIA CO.: on calcite cliffs ca. 1.6 km S of North Shore, 2323. An uncommon calciphile of widespread distribution in North America (Crum & Anderson 1981). Although Erskine (1953) reported this species from Cape Breton Co., Ireland (1982) having not seen the collection excluded it from Nova Scotia. Bartramia ithyphylla Brid. VICTORIA CO.: in cracks along sides of Beulach Falls, ca 12.8 km SE of Cape North, 2252. New to Nova Scotia, this species is widely distributed in the northern part of North America and has been reported from New Brunswick (Flowers 1935) and Newfoundland (Tuomikoski et al. 1973; Brassard et al. 1976). Ireland (1982), unable to verify Flowers's report, excluded it from the Maritime Provinces. Fontinalisflaccida Ren. & Card. GUYSBOROUGH CO.: on rocks in small stream, 2.4 km NW of Salsman Provincial Park, 2361. Welch (1960) reported this species from Yarmouth, Shelbourne, and Victoria cos., Ireland (1982) considered it rare and has verified its presence only in Shelburne county. Fontinalis sullivantii Lindb. QUEENS CO.: on rocks in stream draining bog into Mersey River, 2409; on rocks in Square Camp Brook, near Lake George, 2412, 2413. Fontinalis sullivantii is a member of the eastern North American coastal plain element and previously was known in Nova Scotia only from a single collection (Shelburne Co., Ireland 1982). This station represents the northernmost limit of the species in eastern North America. 007-2745/84/69-70$0.35/0 This content downloaded from 157.55.39.225 on Tue, 13 Jun 2017 17:58:41 UTC All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms 70 THE BRYOLOGIST [Volume 87 Oligotrichum hercynicum (Hedw.) DC. INVERNESS CO.: on soil, beginning of short trail to Fishing Cove, ca. 6.4 km SW of Pleasant Bay, 2199. This arctic-alpine species is newly reported from Nova Scotia, and represents a southern extension of its range in eastern North America where it previously was known only from two localities in Newfoundland (Belland & Brassard 1980). The setae in this collection are orange-red although Nyholm (1969) and Smith (1978) describe the seta of O. hercynicum as yellow. Braithwaite (1887) and Moenkemeyer (1927), however, have attributed an orange-red or reddish-yellow seta to the species. My examination of O. hercynicum from western North America (DUKE) and Europe (us) revealed the setae to be red, orange-red or reddish yellow. Weissia hedwigii Crum. VICTORIA CO.: on soil in cracks of rocks, Beulach Falls, ca. 12.8 km SW of Cape North, 2245. In Canada known only from Nova Scotia (Ireland et al. 1980) where it has been verified from two counties (Annapolis & Hants; Ireland 1982). This report represents a northern extension of its range in North America and the first report from Cape Breton Island. I thank the curators of the herbaria cited for the use of their collections, Harold Robinson for verification of Barbula reflexa, Jerry Snider for reading the manuscript, and the University of Cincinnati Graduate Research Council for financial support. Braithwaite, R. 1887. The British Moss Flora. London. Belland, R. J. & G. R. Brassard. 1980. New or additional moss records from Newfoundland VI. THE BRYOLOGIST 79: 84-86. rassard, G. R., D. P. Weber & A. J. Fife. 1976. New or additional moss records from Newfoundland II. THE BRYOLOGIST 79: 84-86. Crum, H. A. & L. E. Anderson. 1981. Mosses of Eastern North America. New York. Erskine, J. S. 1953. New Bryophytes in Nova Scotia. THE BRYOLOGIST 56: 177-179. Flowers, S. 1935. Bartramiaceae: In A. J. Grout, Moss Flora of North America North of Mexico. Vol. 2, pp. 152-180. Newfane. Ireland, R. R. 1982. Moss Flora of the Maritime Provinces. National Museum of Natural Sciences, National Museums of Canada, Publications in Botany, No. 13. Ottawa. , C. D. Bird, G. R. Brassard, W. B. Schofield & D. H. Vitt. 1980. Checklist of the Mosses of Canada. National Museums of Natural Sciences, National Museums of Canada, Publications in Botany, No. 8. Ot-

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