Mosses of Tamil Nadu

In most of the species coming under 35 families enumerated by Rev. Fr. G. Foreau 1961), taxonomical studies with illustrations have been made for the first time from Southern India. In some of the species, which are new to science, morphological descriptions have been made for the first time. They are: 1. Hedwigium neelgiriensis sp. nov., 2. Aerobryidium indicum sp. nov., 3. Meteorium neelgiriensis sp. nov., 4. Homaliopsis kollimalaiensis sp. nov. and 5. Grimmia neilgiriensis. In Fissidens, 7 species have been studied. As the specimens are very old, the vaginant lamina (third lobe) has been seen only in a few leaves of the plants. Therefore, in the diagrams of the species of Fissidens such third lobe has not been shown. However, these third lobes have been shown in the leaves of the species of Fissidens in Plate-6. In Polytrichaceae, the anatomical studies of leaves and stems (transverse sections) have been undertaken as they are very important characters for the species of this family.