Just downloaded six months worth of photos from my phone and came across this rather bad pic that I had forgotten about. Taken during family walk around the Carmarthen Fans last summer - at one point the footpath goes alongside a crag with a lovely array of arctic alpine plants and almost brushing your face are a few patches of this Amphidium.
Friday, 28 December 2018
Thursday, 27 December 2018
Dinas Powys
On Saturday I spent a morning in Dinas Powys, specifically in tetrad ST17K - the last remaining tetrad in ST17 with no bryophyte records. It proved more interesting than expected, with a fair bit of woodland in the north and some attractive limestone outcrops.
Most of the outcrops were smothered in Thamnobryum and Anomodon, but there was a small patch of Conocephalum salebrosum in one area. The best outcrop (ST149719) held Taxiphyllum wissgrillii and a fair bit of Marchesinia mackaii (the first time I've seen it in the Dinas Powys woodlands, and new for ST17). It was growing near an impressive lichen, which Sam has identified as Dermatocarpon miniatum (thanks Sam).
I finished the outing with a quick walk around Dinas Powys Common, which added some open ground species including Microbryum davellianum (spores checked) on a patch of compacted soil. I haven't entered the records yet, but the tetrad list should be up to around 60 species.
Most of the outcrops were smothered in Thamnobryum and Anomodon, but there was a small patch of Conocephalum salebrosum in one area. The best outcrop (ST149719) held Taxiphyllum wissgrillii and a fair bit of Marchesinia mackaii (the first time I've seen it in the Dinas Powys woodlands, and new for ST17). It was growing near an impressive lichen, which Sam has identified as Dermatocarpon miniatum (thanks Sam).
I finished the outing with a quick walk around Dinas Powys Common, which added some open ground species including Microbryum davellianum (spores checked) on a patch of compacted soil. I haven't entered the records yet, but the tetrad list should be up to around 60 species.
Wednesday, 26 December 2018
Declining acidophiles
Just before Christmas I spotted three uncommon mosses at Dingestow: Plagiothecium latebricola was new for the area (bryophyte number 242), Bryum moravicum was the 2nd Dingestow record and the first in VC35 since 2008, and Aulacomnium androgynum used to be frequent at Dingestow in 1999/2000 but was last seen in VC35 in 2009. The Plagiothecium is remarkably small and easily ignored/overlooked, but formed a dense cover over ca. 30 square cm of a huge log.
Tuesday, 25 December 2018
Crofty update
male Fossombronia incurva |
female plants of Fossombronia incurva with Ephemerum minutissimum |
Direct associates of Cephaloziella integerrima:
Achillea millefolium
Agrostis capillaris
Aira praecox
Anthoxanthum odoratum
Archidium alternifolium
Bellis perennis
Brachytheciastrum velutinum
Brachythecium mildeanum
Bryoerythrophyllum ferruginascens
Bryoerythrophyllum ferruginascens
Bryum dichotomum
Bryum pallens
Calliergonella cuspidata
Carex flacca
Centaurium erythraea
Cephaloziella divaricata
Ceratodon purpureus
Cladonia fimbriata
Cladonia furcata
Cladonia furcata
Cladonia humilis
Cladonia rangiformis
Cynosurus cristatus
Dactylis glomerata
Dicranella rufescens
Didymodon fallax
Didymodon insulanus
Ephemerum minutissimum
Ephemerum serratum
Festuca ovina
Fossombronia incurva
Holcus lanatus
Hypnum cupressiforme var. lacunosum
Hypochaeris radicata
Leontodon saxatilis
Lotus corniculatus
Luzula campestris
Odontites vernus
Oxyrrhynchium hians
Pilosella officinarum
Plantago coronopus
Pleuridium subulatum
Plantago lanceolata
Plantago lanceolata
Prunella vulgaris
Pseudoscleropodium purum
Rhytidiadelphus squarrosus
Tortula truncata
Trifolium dubium
Trifolium repens
Vicia sativa subsp. segetalis
Viola riviniana
Weissia controversa var. controversa
Friday, 14 December 2018
Cephaloziella integerrima in Crofty...
stacked image in natural light of perianths |
stacked image in natural light of gemmiferous shoots |
stacked image in natural light of older perianths |
1' high tump with patches of C. integerrima |
|
phone pic of abundant perianths |
The list of direct associates noted so far includes:
Anthoxanthum
odoratum
Archidium
alternifolium
Brachytheciastrum
velutinum
Bryum
dichotomum
Calliergonella
cuspidata
Cephaloziella
divaricata (photo of female perianth below, male plants also present)
Ceratodon
purpureus
Cladonia
chlorophaea agg.
Cladonia
furcata subsp. furcata
Cladonia
cf. ramulosa
Cladonia
rangiformis
Cynosurus
cristatus
Didymodon
fallax
Festuca
ovina
Fossombronia
sp.
Lotus
corniculatus
Pilosella
officinarum
Plantago
coronopus
Plantago
lanceolata
Pleuridium
cf. acuminatum
Poa
trivialis
Trifolium
dubium
Trifolium
repens
C. divaricata |
Tuesday, 4 December 2018
another little look at Cefn Bryn
I spent an hour and a half on Cefn Bryn in the rain on Saturday and recorded 53 species in an area of flushed ground to the north of Arthur's Stone. Kurzia pauciflora was more frequent here than I've seen elsewhere on Gower, typically growing through mounds of Sphagnum papillosum. Amongst eight Sphagnum, tenellum was the only species of any note.
I only came across one base-enriched flush, where there were small quantities of Palustriella falcata and Sarmentypnum exannulatum mixed in the short turf, which held frequent Campylium stellatum and Scorpidium cossonii.
Grimmia trichophylla & Racomitrium heterostichum were present on several of the rocks in the area, surprisingly this being the first time the latter has been recorded on the Gower peninsula.
Kurzia pauciflora |
Scorpidium cossonii |
Racomitrium heterostichum |
Racomitrium heterostichum |
Racomitrium heterostichum mid-leaf section |
Grimmia trichophylla |
Thursday, 29 November 2018
Syntrichia virescens
Finally an update on this Syntrichia
from Llanishen in February. I have now prepared a nerve section as
recommended by Nagy in the comments. This appears to confirm S. virescens
new for Glamorgan. Not the best prep or photo - but compared to my
usual nerve sectioning abilities I'm pretty chuffed! I'll send a voucher
to Tom Blockeel.
A small Syntrichia growing on the trunk of a street lime caught my eye as I was walking to the woodland south of Llanishen Reservoir for a quick square bash. It looks reasonably convincing for S. virescens, with toothed hairpoints and notched leaf apices, though the length of the basal cells (30-62 microns, averaging 37-45 microns) straddles the ranges given in Smith for differentiating S. virescens and S. montana. It was certainly smaller than typical montana, but as virescens would be new for VC41 I'm being cautious and seeking the opinion of others - thoughts welcome.
A small Syntrichia growing on the trunk of a street lime caught my eye as I was walking to the woodland south of Llanishen Reservoir for a quick square bash. It looks reasonably convincing for S. virescens, with toothed hairpoints and notched leaf apices, though the length of the basal cells (30-62 microns, averaging 37-45 microns) straddles the ranges given in Smith for differentiating S. virescens and S. montana. It was certainly smaller than typical montana, but as virescens would be new for VC41 I'm being cautious and seeking the opinion of others - thoughts welcome.
Labels:
Syntrichia,
virescens
Tuesday, 27 November 2018
Sphagnum russowii in Glamorgan
On 15th September Glamorgan Botany Group paid a visit to Blaenrhondda. As we didn't quite cover as much ground as we'd have liked, a couple of us made a return visit on 4th October. Whilst mainly focusing on the vascular plants, I was drawn to a patch of reddish Sphagna on a north facing Vaccinium dominated slope, near the waterfall on the Nant Melyn stream (SN917016).
This is exactly the sort of habitat where I have seen Sphagnum russowii in Scotland and it had the right jizz. Microscopic examination confirmed it had the lingulate rather than triangular stem leaves, with a mostly plane apex, and 4 rather than 5 branches, which separate it from most other possibilities. (The specimen has also now been confirmed by Tom Blockeel). We saw it in at least two locations on this north facing bank, but there could be more as we subsequently returned our attention back to the crags, so it would be good to do a follow up visit and get a handle on its distribution.
The benefits of SMNR
Monday, 26 November 2018
More Entodon
I helped out with a habitat management work party in Pant St Brides today, in a part of the site I've not spent much time in previously. The limestone turf just above the B4265 looked ideal for Entodon concinnus and it only took a minute or two to locate a fairly large patch of it at SS89627588.
This is a new subsite for this moss at its only South Wales station with recent records, and also a new tetrad. The habitat is very similar to the site found in 2016 (approx. 600m further north), though the aspect is more or less easterly rather than southerly.
This is a new subsite for this moss at its only South Wales station with recent records, and also a new tetrad. The habitat is very similar to the site found in 2016 (approx. 600m further north), though the aspect is more or less easterly rather than southerly.
Saturday, 24 November 2018
The unusual inter-tidal niche of the rare moss Bryum marratii Wilson
Just thought id share a link to the recent paper about Bryum marratii based on study sites in south Wales as useful to have it on the blog too. It was great working with Des, although the 4am start to film a high tide submerging the mosses was a bit of a struggle ! Hopefully there are more collaborations in the pipeline. Im sure you have all seen it but worth adding to the blog anyhow. There is a follow up paper in press and ill share that too. If you need an electronic copy drop my a line at garethf@bgs.ac.uk
Link to Journal of Bryology
Research Gate
You Tube Video
Link to Journal of Bryology
Research Gate
You Tube Video
Labels:
Bryum,
marratii,
Salt marsh,
sea level,
whiteford.
Wednesday, 14 November 2018
Kerbstone query
One query from last week's Vale outing was this small, spidery-looking acrocarp found on a shaded roadside kerbstone near Llysworney. Longest leaves are 1.5mm long. It was probably growing on a thin layer of soil, so Didymodon umbrosus might be a possibility - but would this have such incrassate cells? Selection of microscope pics below; any thoughts welcome.
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