The Bryophytes of Connecticut Volume 11

This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can usually download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1908 edition. Excerpt: ... Hydrophytes. 1. Plants growing in more or less wooded swamps. a. On the ground. Trichocolea tomentella Brachythecium Novce-Anglice Elodium paludosum Calliergon cordifolium b. On sticks and bushes. Dichelyma capillaceum 2. Plants growing on wet or dripping rocks in streams and ravines. Riccardia sinuata Eurynchium rusciforme Jubula pennsylvanica Amblystegium Lescurii Thamnium alleghaniense 3. Plants growing in open bogs, especially peat bogs, and usually forming compact masses of vegetation. Lepidozia setacea Sphagnum (most species) Scapania irrigua Acrocladium cuspidatum Drepanocladus aduncus 4. Plants submerged or floating in the water. Ricciella fluitans. Sphagnum obesum Ricciocarpus natans 0ctodiceras Julianum Porella pinnata Fontinalis Lescurii economic value of the bryophytes Although the majority of the Bryophytes are of small size when compared with the seed-bearing plants, they often form dense and extensive colonies and thus constitute a conspicuous feature of the landscape. This is especially true in mountainous and northern regions, where woody plants are stunted in growth and occur more sparingly than under more favorable climatic conditions. Even in Connecticut, however, where the higher plants exhibit a vigorous development, the Sphagnales and certain of the other Bryophytes are often abundant enough to attract the attention of the ordinary observer. On account of the tufted habit of so many species and the power which they possess of absorbing and retaining water, they exercise a marked influence on both agriculture and forestry. Their importance from this point of view, which is only beginning to be appreciated, has been clearly demonstrated by Georg Roth. According to this author, the mosses tend to diminish floods and...