Wednesday, 6 December 2017

A Porella in Pembs

During our annual Brown Hairstreak egg survey at West Williamston on Sunday I noticed a few stems of a Porella species growing over limestone rocks, just a few metres above the high water mark in a sheltered inlet (SN02630609). My immediate thought was Porella obtusata and, having left my camera at home, I asked Paul Gadsby to take a couple of field shots for me:


I took a small sample for microscope checking; a few underside shots are shown below. The lobules are quite variable in width - some quite narrow and some over half the width of the underleaves. I'm not sure if this is conclusive enough for obtusata, or if it might just be platyphylla - any thoughts welcome. (I did a little taste test - there was no bitterness so I think arboris-vitae is out of the equation).
 
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2 comments:

  1. Barry Stewart9 December 2017 at 00:02

    Not checked in the book, but this looks like platyphylla to me, the habitat would also be more suitable for that species.

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  2. GMT11 December 2017 at 18:13

    Thanks Barry - yes Sam did mention in an email that obtusata is unlikely in this habitat. I'm sure you're right with platyphylla, though the lobules were a bit confusing.

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