(a) Published Literature.

All available literature, involving most of the publications and papers that deal with the New Zealand moss flora, has been read, and named localities have been credited to each moss referred to, under its present-day name. Synonyms are very numerous and make the tabulation of locality records rather difficult and tedious. In all, some 1950 published locality records (marked 0 in Table V) have been listed and credited to the Botanical Districts to which the localities belong. The Botanical Districts are those of Cockayne (Vegetation of New Zealand, 2nd Edit., pp. 380–400), the sub-districts of Thames and Banks Peninsula being treated for convenience as independent districts. The boundary between the Eastern and Western districts is here regarded and treated as co-incident with the Provincial boundary, this being the line of separation between the mesophytic, sub-tropical rain-forests of Westland and the xerophytic, subantarctic beech forests of Canterbury. Records for Mount Cook and Arthur's Pass are credited therefore to the Eastern and not to the Western Botanical District.

All available literature concerning the moss floras of Tasmania. Australia, South America, Subantarctic Islands, and Pacific Islands has been consulted, and the presence of New Zealand mosses noted. Similarly, American, European, and British Moss Floras have been searched, but it must be stressed that the specific identity of many exotic and indigenous mosses can only be finally established after critical comparison by competent authorities.