Didymodon icmadophilus again

H and I came across an interesting Didymodon while walking along the Abergarwed Forest road on Sunday. It appears to be identical to the Didymodon icmadophilus found by Barry in Aberpergwm. The Abergarwed population was growing in a typical forest road community which included Cratoneuron filicinum, D. fallax and D. ferrugineus among others. 

Didymodon icmadophilus, in fine gravel Abergarwed Forest road

The Abergarwed plants share the key features shown by the Aberpergwm plants, i.e. the strikingly attenuated leaf tip made up mostly of costa and the quadrate (rather than rounded) papillose leaf cells.

Attenuated leaf tip of the Abergarwed D. icmadophilus

Quadrate, papillose leaf cells of the Abergarwed D. icmadophilus

I can't help thinking that I have seen plants like this before on forest roads which I have either ignored or passed over as odd looking D. rigidulus. Barry has drawn our attention to the current taxonomic confusion with this 'species' which may be absorbed into D. acutus. In the Flora of North America it is named D. rigidulus var. icmadophilus which, however, is described as having non-papillose cells. Our plants seem to be more similar to the taxon named D. rigidulus var. gracilis which is also described in that flora. Smith mentions D. acutus var. icmadophilus and D. rigidulus var. icmadophilus as former names.

This is an interesting addition to the bryophyte flora of forest roads in south Wales and I suspect that it is widespread in small and easily overlooked populations. Until its taxonomy is sorted, and if everybody agrees,  I suggest that we record plants that fit this description as Didymodon icmadophilus.

Roof Moss revisited

When I posted on 4th December I couldn't find a photo to illustrate Campylopus introflexus growing on tiled roof tops, but yesterday whilst visiting the museum at St. Fagans I noticed that C. introflexus has started to colonise the roof of the woollen mill.   Although most tufts are still quite rounded, a few are big enough to start showing that distinctive tall straight growth-form.

Nearby I also noticed a bunch of sausages starting to grow on a tree near the lakes.

Llanfihangel Pontymoel church - mossiest in Gwent?

Bryologists are not as focussed on churchyard surveying as lichenologists, but churchyards do offer us an accessible and ecologically varied site in most lowland tetrads and are therefore routinely visited during bryophyte recording. For several years I have kept my churchyard records separate from more general village/rural recording so that I can compare different churchyards, sticking to Consecrated Ground for a church/chapel list (ie bryophytes inside the wall or on the wall count, whereas those eg on the lane outside do not). Chris Preston and I employed similar tactics whilst Atlas recording in Ireland, and I think churchyards were recorded separately in Cambridgeshire: in theory we should have a reasonable transect of semi-complete churchyard bryophyte records stretching from Cork & Limerick, via Pembrokeshire, Carmarthenshire & Monmouthshire, to Cambridgeshire.

 

Llanfihangel Pontymoel - north of Ponypool and west of Usk - was my 60th reasonably well-recorded churchyard in VC35. Just under an hour recording there on 23rd December produced 60 bryophyte species, which is the largest total so far for a church/chapel in VC35 (Monmouthshire but equivalent to the former county of Gwent). The previous record was held by Dixton church near Monmouth, with 58 species, followed by Shirenewton Church 53, Llangua Church 52, Nash Church 49, Gwrhay Church 46, Chepstow Priory Church 44 and Mamhilad Church 42.

 

 

 

The churchyard at Llanfihangel Pontymoel is quite large and varied, with scattered trees, abundant graves and a stream forming one boundary. The stream held Fissidens crassipes and Conocephalum conicum; sandstone graves supported Schistidium apocarpum ss (1 grave), Racomitrium aciculare (8) and R. fasciculare (1); roof tiles held Fissidens dubius; disturbed soil produced Microbryum rectum new for SO30 as well as Fissidens exilis, F. viridulus and Pleuridium subulatum. I almost stopped at 59 species, but spotted a discarded carpet as I left the churchyard on which was growing a single tuft of Bryum argenteum (often common on tarmac church paths but absent from the concrete path here).

 

A quick look at the nearby canal took the tetrad total over the 75 species mark.

Scopelophila in Swansea - Reestablishment update

Treatment area, showing location of planted clump (red) and scarified
ground sown with crumbled Scopelophila mixed with donor substrate.
Iona Graham & Gareth Bowen

Scopelophila was last recorded in Swansea in 2007 by Sam at the Six Pits Branch and was one of the features that led to the site being designated as a SSSI in 2017.  Even before the site was notified, it was already known the species may have been lost due to illegal dumping of cuttings at this last known site.  Despite works by an NRW-led team, which cleared the key area in 2015, no regeneration of Scopelophila was apparent the following season.  This led to Andrew Lucas arranging the paperwork and permissions for a translocation exercise in 2018, in which a small quantity of material from the donor site at Bynea saltmarsh was used to reestablish the species at the Six Pit, Swansea Vale and White Rock SSSI.  The exercise was undertaken on 17th October 2018 by another NRW-led team and myself using the following method "Samples ranging approximately between 10-20 cm2 were generally planted against rocks, which both serve as useful reference points for relocation and also provide an element of protection from being dislodged. ... [Also] a crumbled sample of donor substrate with rhizoidal tubers was loosely scattered on land adjacent to each location after scarifying the ground..." 

crumbled donor material ready for sowing on scarified ground 

Kerry Rogers & Iona Graham at one of the treated
locations where inoculation has been very successful

As I was passing the site today, I had a quick 10 minute shifty around the site to look for evidence of how the Scopelophila was doing.   I was able to relocate some of the spots where I remembered us doing the work, and whilst some of the planted clumps were not evident during my quick scan (presumed dislodged), others had taken well and had put on some growth.  Much more encouraging was the growth of the crumbled material, which was growing on the scarified substrate, this being a simple method for greatly extending the area of the population with limited intervention.

Location 7, 17-Oct-18 

Location 7, 22-Dec-19.  Note brown hue to soil is all Scopelophila establishing

Location 7, 22-Dec-19.  Detail of Scopelophila establishing

Even the 'last minute' cycle-path edge plots, 17-Oct-19 held Scopelophila

I must finally mention that the work undertaken by NRW last winter to reduce the amount of encroaching scrub has been very beneficial.

Roof Moss

Barry’s moss roof post reminded me of an unusual roof moss I noticed amongst some of my old photographs recently.  Back in 2004 when Sam and I were doing some recording for the Carmarthenshire bryophyte flora we spotted some tufts of Campylopus atrovirens growing on a slate roof. 

The roof in the photograph is near Allt Rhyd y Groes National Nature Reserve in the very north-east of Carmarthenshire - one of my most favourite parts of Wales.    This oceanic species has a very western distribution in Britain, and in south Wales I think I have mostly seen it growing in wet heath, especially where there is some slight flushing – in the Allt Rhyd y Groes area it probably rains more days than it doesn’t, so probably not surprising a moss like this can grow in such an exposed spot.
  
I think the only other Campylopus species I have seen on roofs is C. introflexus – fairly common on thatch but also sometimes growing between roof tiles, where it takes on a very distinctive growth form of tall, very straight-sided tufts, easily identified as this species from a good distance away.    

Mellte Gunpowder Works

A site visit last week included a check on the moss roof I put together for the restoration project on the expense magazine.  It was originally planned to be turved, but I suggested using mosses from the woodland floor (from areas where logs were to be stacked) would be more appropriate as it would be cheaper, more sustainable, virtually maintenance free, as well as being much more in keeping with the site.  The work was undertaken in August 2018 and well over one year on, the mosses have done really well.  However, now all the conifers have gone, I'm fearing another dry summer may see some die-back, though I'm sure some species will persist until a canopy of sorts reforms.  Check it out next time you pass!

Two views on the day of construction 21st Aug 2018

After scaffolding removal 31st Oct 2018

Didymodon icmadophilus in the Neath Valley

I've not yet checked my specimen under the microscope, but what I've been calling D. icmadophilus (as recommended by Tom Blockeel) was present in good quantity on wavy concrete-block paving at Aberpergwm.  I'm not quite sure what is happening taxonomically with acutus and icmadophilus, as the map on the NBN appears to show records for these taxa amalgamated under the latter name.  If any anyone can shed any light on what's going on I'd be grateful, just so I can enter my records under the correct name.  D. acutus at Merthyr Mawr to me looks quite different to D. icmadophilus I've seen at anthropogenic sites in West Glamorgan.

For ref,  the list of associates on the blockwork was as follows:

Barbula convoluta var. convoluta Barbula convoluta var. sardoa Barbula unguiculata Bryoerythrophyllum ferruginascens Bryum capillare Bryum dichotomum Bryum pallens Bryum pallescens Calliergonella cuspidata Cephaloziella cf. hampeana Ceratodon purpureus Dicranella varia Didymodon cf. australasiae Didymodon fallax Didymodon ferrugineus Didymodon icmadophilus Didymodon insulanus Encalypta streptocarpa Hypnum cupressiforme var. cupressiforme Pseudocrossidium hornschuchianum Trichostomum crispulum

Possible gall on Bryum rhizoids

I'm suspecting this odd structure on the rhizoids of Bryum pseudotriquetrum (or possibly B. pallescens, which I was puzzling over it when I spotted them, so must check the id) might be a gall?  If anyone knows anything about these or what else it might be, I'd be interested to find out.  Collected at Baglan Burrows yesterday, from one of the WTSWW Distichium inclinatum trial management plots.  For ref the diameter of the internal stalked sphere is 25μm and the external surface of the swollen club-shaped structures (several visible in lower image) appeared papillose.

Lundy Bryophytes 2019

I made my 6th visit to Lundy Island, off the north coast of Devon, between 19th and 22nd October 2019. Unlike previous visits with family, this was a solo trip aimed at bryophyte recording, albeit armed with binoculars for a bit of birding too. I planned to record the island on a 200x200m grid: a justifiable scale on this 4x1km island. Prior to my visit the Lundy bryophyte list stood at 176 taxa, and 23 addition in October 2019 have raised this to 199 taxa. Bryophytes are fascinatingly varied on Lundy, with oceanic species in stream gullies, ruderal species around the village, and wetland species in parts of the island plateau. Some bryophytes are remarkably rare compared with the mainland, especially woodland taxa such as Atrichum undulatum (added in 2019) and Eurhynchium striatum (still unrecorded), whilst others are notably more frequent, including Campylopus brevipilus and Cephalozia lunulifolia. Brief notes on my 4 days recording follow, with * indicating new taxa for Lundy and bold indicating photographed species.

19th October 2019
Wet days preceded my arrival, so mosses on the concrete wall alongside the road in Landing Bay were much showier than during previous summer visits: Syntrichia ruraliformis* and Cryphaea heteromalla were newly detected on a wall that I have checked several times previously. Quarter Wall Copse was my first target site, and the rocky stream here produced updates for Chiloscyphus polyanthos, Calypogeia muelleriana and Lejeunea lamacerina (20th century records only) as well as Epipterygium tozeri, Fissidens curnovii, Atrichum undulatum* and Sciuro-hypnum populeum*. Searching around the quarries revealed Racomitrium lanuginosum (an update), Barbilophozia attenuata, several colonies of Dicranum scottianum and some Bryum bornholmense* as well as a Yellow-browed Warbler. Brachythecium mildeanum* on concrete in the farmyard had eluded me on previous visits, whilst a quick look in St John's Valley produced potential Scapania lingulata and Tortula wilsonii on thin soil overlying rock, both of which need confirmation by the national recorders.

20th October 2019
Confusion over the time of sunrise saw me waiting for dawn at Threequarter Wall at 07:20. A stream valley by Threequarter Wall detained me for a while before I reached my principal target area. Aneura pinguis was a nice update, and was represented by a large, loosely attached taxon typical of upland flushes, whilst Pellia neesiana* was the first of three records of this species. A large, irregularly-branched Isothecium on a cliff base appears to be I. interludens (I. myosuroides var. brachythecioides), which will be new for SW England if confirmed. The tors and Carex paniculata tussocks of Gannets' Coombe were a rich hunting ground and occupied me for most of the morning. Highlights included Blasia pusilla*, Frullania teneriffae, Hookeria lucens, Scapania scandica*, Sphagnum fimbriatum*, Anthoceros punctatus, Kurzia sylvatica and Tritomaria exsectiformis; the population of Lepidozia cupressina discovered in 2016 was found to extend into six 10m Grid Squares. Crossing to the west coast past several colonies of Campylopus brevipilus took me to a gully east of St Peter's Stone, where Platyhypnidium alopecuroides* was one of the most surprising finds of the week, growing close to Phaeoceros laevis*, Scapania undulata and Fontinalis antipyretica. The walk back to the Village showed just how bryologically poor the heath and acid grassland of the plateau are, with significant searching required to produce more than 3 or 4 species in each 200x200m square. Fortunately 5 Snow Buntings and a Jack Snipe kept me entertained.

21st October 2019
After early morning birding in Millcombe I headed north to Quarry Pond to complete a couple of squares that I had looked at during previous visits. Scrambling round to a willow in the back of the quarry produced Orthotrichum tenellum*, whilst a mire in the quarry floor held Riccardia chamedryfolia*. Pleurozium schreberi appeared at last on a bank - goodness knows why it is so rare on Lundy - and the mortar of the ruined Quarry Cottages supported Didymodon vinealis* and Pseudocrossidium revolutum*. An enjoyable couple of hours showing Lundy Warden Dean Jones the mosses and liverworts of the Quarries area finished with us visiting Pondsbury, where Sphagnum rubellum* was detected among abundant S. subnitens, S. inundatum and S. palustre. After lunch, scrutiny of the northernmost quarry revealed Marsupella emarginata*, whilst a stream gully dropping to the east coast held the Lundy rarities Anthoceros punctatus, Philonotis fontana, Pellia neesiana and Pogonatum aloides, as well as Dicranella rufescens* and Pohlia annotina* mixed together on a bank. Small plants of Plagiochila bifaria were a surprise on the tor at the east end of Halfway Wall, and Fissidens dubius* on three rocks in a stream gully south of the Quarries rounded off the day nicely. The day was accompanied by the constant chuckling of Fieldfares.

22nd October 2019
Migrating birds were a major theme of my final morning on the island: 3 Jackdaw (a Lundy Rarity), 1 Lesser Whitethroat, 1 Ring Ouzel, 1 Brambling, 1 Lapland Bunting and 2 Snow Bunting were highlights of a very busy morning. Bryophytes were not to be outdone though, and the area between Halfway Wall and Threequarter Wall on the west coast held such highlights as Entosthodon attenuatus*, Aneura pinguis, Riccardia chamedryfolia and Warnstorfia exannulata. Several large patches of Fossombronia sp. were searched unsuccessfully for sprorophytes, though most were probably F. maritima which is the only confirmed Lundy Fossombronia; potential F. incurva and F. wondraczekii need return visits for confirmation. After a leisurely wander back through the Village and Millcombe, I spent 15 minutes clambering on the lower slopes above the Landing Bay road, where Bryum donianum*, Lophozia sudetica*, Plagiochila bifaria and Rhytidiadelphus triquetrus augur well for a more extensive search. 1151 bryophyte records made during the 4 days doubles the number of bryophyte records made on Lundy, but there is still plenty of recording to be done before I can write a Bryophyte Flora of this wonderful island. I will return in 2020!

 

 

Medium Excitement

Yesterday I took a quickish walk with Jonathan Saville to a bog on Mynydd Llangattock to download data from some dipwell loggers.   The bog has changed considerably since I first visited in about 1999.  Back then, this common was quite heavily grazed and much of the bog surface consisted of scattered tightly grazed patches of vegetation with more bare peat than vegetation and hardly any Sphagnum, although there were strong populations of round-leaved sundew Drosera rotundifolia growing on the peat and Splachnum sphaericum growing on the abundant animal droppings.   The area was also suffering from the effects of a deep drainage ditch, almost a canal, which had been dug through the middle of the bog to feed the Garnlydan reservoir, and no doubt the site was also being affected by the poorer air conditions back then - the Ebbw Vale Steels Works only 7km to the south was just about still working then.       


Twenty years on, the area looks very different – grazing levels are much reduced and the ditch has largely filled in.  There is now almost a complete cover of vegetation, with a nice mix of bog plants and an abundance of Sphagnum, including much S. papillosum.    

About 7 years ago I managed to refind a mid 1970s record of Bog Rosemary Andromeda polifolia somewhere on this bog -  I walked over to a colleague to share the excitement and then walked back and couldn't find it again! 


Whilst discussing the vegetation changes with Jonathan I suggested that it would be wonderful if, before he retires, he finds S. magellanicum growing on this bog – as it happens we didn’t have to wait that long as a few minutes later we bumped into a large patch of the moss. 

There are very few records of S. magellanicum in south Wales and at most of the sites where it does occur there is often only a tiny population of one patch or so.  Mynydd Llangattock is a good distance from the next nearest sites in N. Brecks and Carmarthenshire and I presume it has colonised since my first visit.   
        

After 40 years of making references to Sphagnum magellanicum it might take me a long time to get used to calling our plant of ombrotrophic bogs S. medium.  If anyone missed the paper in the Journal of Bryology a couple of years back a summary is given here: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/03736687.2018.1474424

  

Cefn Hirgoed

The last Glamorgan Botany Group trip of the season seems a distant memory now. It feels like it has rained almost non-stop since that sunny Saturday, the 21st September.

The outing to Cefn Hirgoed near Bridgend gave me chance to record a few bryophytes in SS98L, which helped push the list for that tetrad from 20 to 67 taxa. A few species were also added to the list for tetrad SS98K.

Nothing very remarkable was recorded in this area of acidic, often wet, grassy heath, but it was nice to see Bryum alpinum in Glamorgan for the first time in a while - a small patch growing by a small rock outcrop on damp flat ground. This record (circled red on the map below) is a little bit of an outlier, though Bridgend remains poorly recorded and there may well be other colonies waiting to be found.

Splachnum season

Marsh Fritillary larval web surveys can only mean one thing (apart from the obvious) - the chance to look for Splachnum species on herbivore dung in wet pasture. Today I came across a patch of young S. ampullaceum plants, on cattle dung in a valley mire on Fairwood Common. The only other Gower record of this moss is from pony dung in the same mire system three years ago.

Incidentally, having seen quite a bit of non-fruiting Splachnum in South Wales, I was delighted to chance across a splendid fruiting patch in the New Forest in July.