The Alabama Black Belt parallels the southern edge of the Fall Line Hills and is characterized by Cretaceous chalk exposures sometimes overlain by a shallow layer of alluvial loams. Chalk exposures vary from nearly level surfaces to perpendicular bluffs of different directional orientation. Flat to sloping chalk soil areas are characterized by Virginia red cedar and grasslands. Steep sided gullies are more mesic and support hardwoods. Bryophytes collected from Black Belt sites have yielded many new county records reflecting mostly the lack of previous collecting. When compared to the bryophytes reported from European, especially Great Britain, chalk areas, species parallels were noted as well as many generic congruities. Although diversity is not so great as occurs in the geologically diverse mountainous areas in the northern part of the state, the flora is clearly rich as well as reflecting the uniqueness of this physiographic province.

Key words: Alabama bryophytes, Black Belt bryophytes, chalkland mosses and liverworts