No, not really. I noted 78 species on the east bank, but most were commonplace bryophytes of wooded valleys. Highlights were Jungermannia obovata on a seeping shale rockface at SN99190736 - initially misidentified as J. sphaerocarpa but upon checking found to have a perigynium - and Neckera crispa & Gymnostomum aeruginosum on a slightly base-enriched outcrop at SN99060728, but the area behind the dramatic waterfall was very base-poor. Supporting cast included Heterocladium heteropterum, Saccogyna viticulosa, Fissidens celticus, Lejeunea lamacerina, Gymnocolea inflata, Jungermannia pumila, Bartramia pomiformis, Ditrichum heteromallum and Sphagnum squarrosum. I mustn't grumble, but I'd hyped the place up in my mind and walked 3km to get there. The massive rock slab through which the waterfall cuts was really spectacular, but sadly it was in VC42 and I didn't have time to make a list.
The tetrad list was bumped up by a few ruderal species on the Nant Hir Reservoir dam, including Bryum pallescens, Pseudocrossidium hornschuchianum and extremely inland Syntrichia ruraliformis. There appears to be just one previous VC41 record from the tetrad - Barry's Rhytidiadelphus squarrosus from Nant-hir viaduct - so my 99 species are almost all new.
Your visit has certainly given the square a major boost with some very nice records, although my db shows 59 taxa have already recorded in SN90Y, the best being Thuidium delicatulum (CCW 1993), with Solenostoma obovatum, Tetrodontium brownianum & Trichostomum tenuirostre recorded by Martha Newton in 1996.
ReplyDeleteI think I'd have found that excursion a lot more exciting than you Sam, even though I'd probably have missed half of the interesting species!
ReplyDeleteLooks lovely habitat. I looked at Cwm Ffrwdd, on the other side of the plantation, a few years ago - that will be worth a survey too, unless Graham has already covered the VC42 side.
I wasn't sure which bank Martha looked at - the stream is the vc boundary. I was searching for Tetrodontium as it looked ideal! Cwm Ffrwd was surveyed for Merthyr CC by Chris Forster Brown a few years ago. Nothing too great and records not tetradable I think.
ReplyDeleteThe records state left hand bank, so definitely the Glam-side. I suspect the tetrad is now well over 100 :-)
ReplyDeleteGeorge - I have not looked at VC42 bits of either of these valleys.
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