Before the head-high Nettles and Balsam make visits to the riverbank impossible, I had a check of the silty Salix by the River Wye at Wyesham. The results were surprisingly mundane and I couldn't find any sign of the Myrinia that I was hoping for, although Orthotrichum sprucei was abundant alongside Leskea and a bit of Dialytrichia. I'll try to return because I only searched the upper trunks/branches of the willows briefly.
Just as I was about to give up, I noticed a very opaque-looking moss on the ground - Hennediella stanfordensis to compliment the darker green, more translucent H. macrophylla photographed in Chichester the other week. A microscope confirmed sharp teeth near the leaf apex.
Very nice find - hopefully it will be found a bit further west one day. Not as bad as Nettles and balsam, but I was in Oxwich Wood yesterday and the bryos in the field layer are now completely hidden by Ramsons
ReplyDeleteIt does look distinctive...I don't think I've overlooked it on the Cardiff riverbanks, but will certainly keep an eye out for it. I've more work to do on the Rhymney next winter, which, being on the eastern county boundary, might be as likely as anywhere in Glam.
ReplyDeleteNice to have those photos for reference. Since the first British records were from the western tip of Cornwall its spread westwards from the Marches seems inevitable. It must be out there somewhere.
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