Moss on a pole

Well, on the stump of a pole.  Dicranum montanum was a long overdue 'lifer' for me and it was reassuringly distinct enough in the field (photo above) to immediately suspect it as being a good a candidate for montanum, though I only got round to checking my voucher last night.  It would appear to be genuinely scarce in Glamorgan, this being the first record since 2005, when it was recorded at Pencoedtre by an unnamed 'EcoTech' surveyor/subcontractor.  The only other 21st Cent. record was made by Sam in 2002 at Blackmill SSSI.  Given the unspectacularness of the habitat for this record (a weathered telegraph pole at a coal mine washery), there is possibility it occurs more widely.  The very sprawly-curly leaves of dry plants impart a distinctiveness quite different from the potentially confusing Dicranoweisia cirrata.

Mellte Valley Photo-trip

 I didn't have a good photograph of Solenostoma sphaerocarpum, so yesterday afternoon H and I went to see the nice little colony that Barry found in the Mellte Valley a few days ago.

 Solenostoma sphaerocarpa, Mellte Valley

 The winged perianth with a short beak, and the circular leaves, are distinctive.

Further up the valley we caught up with the Dicranum montanum that I remember from the Mellte trip led by Sam a few years ago. I didn't get a chance to photograph it then, so it was nice to get it again on a few trees near the trail.

Dicranum montanum, Mellte Valley

Some of you will also remember the remarkable riverside site nearby with both Tunbridge and Wilson's Filmy-fern growing within feet of each other.

Hymenophyllum tunbrigense, Mellte Valley

Hymenophyllum wilsonii, Mellte Valley

Homage in the Hepste

It's nearly 18 years since Graham and I visited Sgwd yr Eira to pay homage to the southernmost British population of Sphenolobopsis pearsonii - found by Martha Newton in 1994 and 'twitched' by us in 1999.  We were glad to see that this Nationally Scarce liverwort is still present on one rockface (we assume it's the same one where Martha found it, though we haven't yet checked), but were worried to see that most of the patch looks moribund.

On our way to the Sphenolobopsis we searched the ravine downstream - where Plagiochila bifaria was present in a classic mist-zone location - and some south-facing cliffs where putative Ctenidium molluscum var robustum (or perhaps var condensatum) grew close to var molluscum and looked convincingly different (if un-nameable).  Nearby there was some Dicranum montanum on a log.

Then we reached Sgwd yr Eira, with its classic walk-behind waterfall and extensive mist zone.  Most Ash trunks were plastered with algae - too humid for anything else perhaps - but eventually we found some Plagiochila exigua at the base of an Ash.  Unlike the small Lejeuneaceae this species lacks propagules, so it's a sure-fire indicator of long-term Atlantic bryophyte richness in the valley.

The first stretch upstream of Sgwd yr Eira was a bit dull, but frequent Anastrophyllum hellerianum on logs and a few patches of Filmy Ferns kept us going until we reached a set of low cascades.  At long last there was some Aphanolejeunea - 30+ patches on a Willow and 1 on a massive boulder - the first record for the Hepste-Mellte catchment.  Careful scrutiny revealed a single shoot of Drepanolejeunea growing alongside one Aphanolejeunea patch, but we couldn't find any more.

Happy with our lot we continued upstream in the fading light, where a yapa (Bolivian word for an added bonus) came in the form of Hygrobiella laxifolia on a riverside rock shelf.  The godfather of south Wales bryology HH Knight found this species in "Hepste Glen" in the early 20th century, but nobody had seen it since.  This was a fitting end to an outstanding final day of our Coedydd Nedd a Mellte survey!

Puzzle Wood - things grabbed in passing

I took Bea and Johnny to Puzzle Wood in the Forest of Dean today.  It's an absolutely marvellous place - straight out of the movie sets (literally) - with deep 'scowles' left by ancient iron ore mining in limestone rocks.  I have been several times over the years, and I guess it's the first place I was ever aware of noticing moss (stringing some kind into Filmy Fern when I was about 10).  This was Bea's third visit, and I jotted down a list of 35 species when we last came to the wood in 1999.  These included the calcicoles Cololejeunea rossettiana (photo), Fissidens gracilifolius, Jungermannia atrovirens (photo), Leiocolea turbinata, Neckera crispa (photo) and Taxiphyllum wissgrillii, all of which I saw today as well.

There were a few additions: Dicranum montanum (photo) and Nowellia curvifolia on logs, Pseudotaxiphyllum elegans on sandstone and Plagiomnium rostratum on limestone.  I am sure that there's more to be found if one didn't have to keep rushing on at the pace of a 7 year old!

Probably the most notable thing, however, was the absence of Sematophyllum substrumulosum.  I looked at many, many conifer logs, Yew bases and fences made of Yew branches and couldn't find any at all.  Conditions seem perfect and it's less than 5km away in NE Monmouthshire.  I suspect that a return visit in 10 or 20 years time will show a different picture, as I'm sure that substrum will be well established by then.

On Headless Hill

I love a good coincidence... This morning, Barry phoned to ask me about bryophytes and Killarney Fern gametophyte in a ravine in Carmarthenshire; at lunchtime I had a wander on Headless Hill (in the Welsh bit of the Forest of Dean) and stumbled across a large patch of Killarney Fern!  I'm sure I would have spotted it regardless of having it in my mind, as it covered nearly 150x30cm of the overhanging side of a large conglomerate block.  I usually find the gametophyte in slightly more humid localities, but it seems less desiccation-sensitive than the very rare sporophyte stage.  This part of Headless Hill was coniferised a few decades ago and the Trichomanes rock is now under a mature canopy of conifers (I think they are Fir).

Nearby were several well-rotted Oak/Beech stumps on which grew Leucobryum juniperoideum, Dicranum scoparium and a small tuft of a very curly-leaved Dicranoid moss that I had high hopes for.  Sure enough this turned out to be the long-awaited first VC35 record of Dicranum montanum, with very mamillose leaf cells and denticulate margins.  The straight-leaved D. tauricum is relatively widespread in the V-c, but for some reason the ecologically similar D. montanum remains extremely scarce in Wales.