Fissidens crassipes subsp. warnstorfii?

I popped out at lunchtime to finish off tetrad SO30C which I started late last year. My 2018 visit focussed on upland-edge woodland and streams, so today's targets were species of walls, tracks and trees. The canal bridge at Goetre (SO314057) seemed as good a place as any, and produced 32 additions to the tetrad. Highlight was what I thought was Fissidens fontanus submerged in the canal - a single 2x2cm tuft of long, narrow shoots about 2cm below the water surface.  However, I could see a leaf border through the hand lens and I didn't think F. fontanus was bordered, so I collected 3 shoots for checking.

 

Sure enough, Fissidens fontanus is unbordered, and working my plant through the key in Smith took me to F. crassipes.  The canal plant was unlike any F. crassipes I had seen before, and I am very familiar with the short (<1cm long) plants of this common lowland moss.  Just in case, I checked the text in the European guide of Frahm & Frey (ed Blockeel), and there found three infraspecific taxa of F. crassipes.  One of these - var. philibertii - matched the canal plant very well, with shoots >2cm long (vs up to 1cm in var. crassipes), and with the upper part of the lamina shorter than the sheathing part.

 

the two blue bars are the same length, showing the upper part of the leaf
is shorter than the sheathing part

Frahm & Frey mention four synonyms of var. philibertii: var. submarginatus, Fissidens warnstorfii, F. mouretii and F. sublineaefolius.  This showed that several people have considered this taxon to be sufficiently different to typical F. crassipes that it deserved species rank.  A quick check of Tom Blockeel's account in the Atlas indicated that this distinctiveness is currently recognised at the subspecies level, with World Fissidens expert Maria Bruggeman-Nannenga calling it subsp. warnstorfii.  The Atlas describes this as a Mediterranean plant, and I have not yet managed to find any reference to it being recorded from Britain before.  I doubt that many of the boats that ply the canal have come here from the Mediterranean, but introduction via aquatic plants seems plausible.  Alternatively, the Monmouthshire plants might be a morph of subsp. crassipes that grew very tall under the shade of the canal bridge in last summer's drought, but if that is the case it seems surprising that it would so closely resemble the Mediterranean subspecies of this moss. 

some Grosmont finds

I haven't Blogged any bryophytes for ages I'm afraid, primarily because I didn't find much of interest over the summer despite fieldwork in N and Mid Wales.  Bea is now doing a drama class near Grosmont one day a week, and that gives me an hour or two in which to look for wildlife in the under-recorded hectad SO42, which is mostly in Herefordshire but includes 8 Monmouthshire tetrads.  Graig Syfyrddin, which rises to >400m, dominates the area and includes some Old Red Sandstone outcrops with species such as Seligeria recurvata and Tortula subulata, whilst the River Monnow meanders along the eastern edge.

First stop, last week, was a bend in the Monnow upstream of Kentchurch.  Old Red Sandstone outcrops held Plagiochila britannica, which is scarce on the county's sandstone, whilst steep soil associated with the outcrops (photo below) supported a tiny Fissidens that proved to be F. crispus (=F. limbatus).  The latter is the first county record for nearly 80 years, though I didn't photograph it in the field because it was getting dark.  Platygyrium repens was on a Crack Willow by the river.

Today's expedition aimed to cover part of SO42G, which includes a large conifer plantation between 100 and 300m altitude and a long section of the River Monnow, but no footpaths in either area.  I followed the only path, along the southern edge of the tetrad, and managed to rack up 48 species.  A return visit to roadside habitats should produce a few more, but it won't be possible to do the area justice unless I can pluck up courage to knock on some doors.  Anyway, the track to Upper Graig passed some arable land with Riccia glauca and Marchantia polymorpha ruderalis, some woodland edge with epiphytes, and then an old quarry where Grimmia trichophylla and Polytrichum piliferum were on sandstone.  Highlight came at the far end of my walk: a massive old Ash at SO42132232 held 50cm2 of Leucodon sciuroides. 

The distribution of Leucodon in VC35 is intriguing.  There are several populations on the Old Red Sandstone of Ysgyryd Fawr and the Black Mountains, a couple at Dingestow on Fraxinus and an Asbestos roof, two on sandstone roof tiles (Dingestow and Penrhos churchs) and one on Fraxinus in the Wye Valley.  I suspect it's overlooked on roofs, but it is clearly mighty rare here.

Wern Ddu (again) and Rudry

I made a trip to Wern-ddu yesterday to have a look for that bluetail, but on arrival there was already quite a crowd of assembled birders - some of whom cheerfully told me that they'd been there for several hours without seeing it. I lack the patience for that kind of thing, so quickly left to check out the much more easily twitched Fissidens limbatus found by Barry a few days earlier (thanks Barry...and you weren't exaggerating when you said it was tiny).

Fissidens limbatus

On the way there was a tempting pile of limestone rubble and spoil from past quarrying at Cefn Onn, which held plenty of (putative!) Leiocolea badensis and some more tiny Fissidens which will probably prove to be limbatus. A rotten log was covered in Nowellia, which might be new for ST18. As Barry mentioned, this north-facing slope is very mossy indeed and will surely reward a more thorough survey.

Probable Leiocolea badensis

Nowellia curvifolia

My main aim of the day was to look for Leptodontium flexifolium at Rudry Common, found here by  Roy Perry in 1974. I'm pleased to report that it is still grows here 43 years on!

Leptodontium flexifolium

Leptodontium flexifolium with deciduous stubby leaves at shoot tips

Leptodontium flexifolium habitat

It proved to be quite frequent on thin peaty soil around sandstone outcrops, mostly growing under slight overhangs. The main associate was Ceratodon purpureus (the overwhemingly dominant bryophyte here) with smaller quantities of Polytrichum piliferum and Campylopus introflexus. It looks like the whole site gets burnt regularly, which perhaps aids the persistence of the Leptodontium. This tetrad (ST18Y) should now be over 60 species.

Wernddu revisited

Well this time the Red-flanked Bluetail gave itself up readily and on our circuit back to the car I stopped briefly at what looked like the remains of an old lime kiln. Amongst some fruiting Leiocolea turbinata was the tiny Fissidens crispus (=limbatus). NB smallest tick marks below = 1μm and note protruberant cells.

Melin Mynach, Gorseinon

A 30 minute lunch-time walk on the levelled coal spoil tip (SS593994) near my house produced a small number additions to the list of species found growing directly on spoil at this site, taking the total to 55 [137 for the tetrad]. These included Bryoerythrophyllum ferruginescens, Ctendium molluscum, Drepanocladus aduncus, Pohlia annotina & Trichostomum crispulum, the calcicole elements most likely a consequence of the limestone chippings used to dress part of the site. The most interesting addition was Fissidens incurvus, which owing to its unusual appearance and close association with Archidium alternifolium and Weissia brachycarpa (although F. adianthoides was the most abundant associate) may relate to the defunct var. tamarindifolius. Although I can’t find images to convince myself this is a correct assumption, the specimens I saw today were quite different from all my previous encounters with this species, so much so, that when I saw it I wasn’t actually sure what species it was. By way of scale, the full graticule on the composite image is 2.5mm. I know Sam knows this possibly better than anyone, so any opinion on my specimen would be welcome.

Glynhir waterfalls

I was hoping to have a bit longer, but only managed to snatch a 30 minute search of the waterfalls before enjoying the PryceEco Christmas dinner  at Glynhir. I focussed on the area immediately downstream of the main waterfall on the Loughor SN64151514 and took a very brief look at the smaller side falls. Species noted of interest included Conocephalum salebrosum, Fissidens bryoides var. caespitans, F. rufulus (photos 6-7, frequent on submerged slabs downstream of large boulder shown in photo 1), Gymnostomum aeruginosum, Heterocladium heteropterum var. flaccidum, Jubula hutchinsiae (~5sqm colony at photos 2 & 3), Palustriella commutata, Rhynchostegiella teneriffae, Trichostomum tenuirostre  and Trichomanes speciosum gemetophyte. A site definitely worthy of a more diligent search.

Horns a-plenty

On Fridays I mostly look after my younger daughter Amy, but I do get a couple of hours of play time while she is in nursery school - ideal for topping up the bryo counts for some local tetrads. On Friday last week conditions were ideal - some morning rain to moisten up the bryos nicely after the recent dry spell, replaced by sunshine by the time I ventured out.

My target was the west (VC41) bank of the River Rhymney north of Llanedern Bridge. I looked at a short section south of the bridge a year ago but only managed 30 taxa, so wanted to try and bump this up a bit. The usual range of flood zone bryophytes was present, including plenty of fruiting Leskea polycarpa. Of more interest to me were some large patches of fruiting Fissidens crassipes on riverbank rocks (convincing microscopically, with cell and peristome measurements within the ranges given in Smith), the first time I've seen this species on the local rivers.

A patch of knotweed on the riverbank had been chemically treated, allowing bryophytes to flourish on the newly-created bare ground. Both Riccia glauca and R. sorocarpa were present here.

Riccia glauca

Riccia sorocarpa

The best was still to come though. Across the track from the river was a large, grassy arable field and here, along with more crystalworts, were two species of hornwort: large male and female rosettes of Phaeoceros laevis and much smaller rosettes of Anthoceros with well developed horns. Frustratingly, try as I might, I couldn't find any male organs on the Anthoceros sample I brought home, so it will have to go down as Anthoceros sp. (though it's very likely to be A. agrestis as the rosettes were small). Other typical arable bryos were also abundant: Ephemerum minutissimum, Dicranella scherberiana, Trichodon cylindricus and Tortula truncata.

Anthoceros sp.

Anthoceros rosettes

Phaeoceros laevis (female)

Phaeoceros laevis (male)

Phaeoceros laevis (male organs)

I still haven't quite got this tetrad up to 60 species, but perhaps Sam has some records from the eastern (VC35) half?

A quick splash in the Honddu

A 20 minute window before collecting two visitors from a train in Abergavenny gave me a chance to visit the Honddu at Pandy, and to finish off tetrad SO32G which I started on the hills in the early 2000s.  Fissidens crassipes (photo), F. pusillus, Hygroamblystegium tenax and Rhynchostegiella teneriffae were on sandstone rocks, forming part of the typical riverine assemblage in SE Wales.  Several epiphytes, including Leskea, Orthotrichum striatum, O. tenellum, Syntrichia papillosa and Ulota crispa, bruchii and phyllantha were also new for the tetrad.

Rhynchostegiella teneriffae was also present in a stream just east of Abergavenny (SO31C), which I knocked off in my lunch hour, and the same valley also held fragments of tufa that supported Eucladium and Didymodon tophaceus.  Finally, a railway bridge had some Schistidium elegantulum alongside abundant S. crassipilum.

So, two more VC35 tetrads up to par.  Still over 1/3 remain unrecorded though.

Cwm Clydach, Kidwelly revisited

It's difficult to capture the atmosphere from photographs, so click HERE and HERE to see short videos of this beautiful narrow gorge.

The rocks along the water line, especially below the waterfalls in the first image, support a good population of Fissidens rivularis, whilst higher up the cliff locally frequent Jubula hutchinsiae, Fissidens osmundoides and Trichomanes speciosum gametophyte were among the highlights.

 The erect capsules, yellowish nerve/leaf border and smaller cells differentiate rivularis from monguillonii.

Jubula hutuchinsiae

Rhynchostegiella teneriffae

Trichomanes speciosum