Tâf Fechan [SO01K square bash]

Left vc42, right vc41

As I was in Merthyr on Friday and I had a spare hour, I made a quick sojourn into SO01K, which was on a paltry 10 species. Even within my limited time slot I was able to quickly add an additional 64 species to the list for what is undoubtedly a much richer partial tetrad. There was also interest before reaching my target the square, when crossing Pontsarn viaduct I noticed a nice colony of Grimmia orbicularis on the Brecon side, new for vc42 according to the blog county lists.

Once in the square a large decorticated log was found to hold a good colony of Riccardia palmata (below; photo 1) and the limestone outcrops & boulders supported abundant drapes of Neckera crispa on dry cliffs with sheets of Conocephalum salebrosum in damper sections. The most interesting species of the drier sections were Loeskeobryum brevirostre (photo 2), Scapania aspera (photo 3) and Platydictya jungermannioides (photos 4-7), the latter new for Glamorgan with 3 small colonies noted in crevices, but with plenty of the same habitat, it seems likely there will be a strong population at this site.

 

Interest on the wetter sections was provided by Cololejeunea calcarea, Eucladium verticillatum, Leiocolea bantriensis (below; photo 1) and Seligeria acutifolia (photos 2 & 3). Well worth a revist - park on the vc42 side of the bridge, cross over and drop down from the Glamorgan side - very easy access.

 

 

Grimmia orbicularis

Today's photograph of my samples from Coedffaldau, which clearly show the differences between Grimmia orbicularis and G. pulvinata. Below, from the same day, Lophozia bicrenata growing in an extensive mat of hepatics at Bryn-melyn sandstone quarry (SN73781134), the main associates being Solenostoma gracillimum, Diplophyllum albicans and Nardia scalaris. The distinctive leather / cedar-wood smell of my sample is remarkably strong for such a small plant, even when dry. This character, when coupled with the compact shoots with golden-brown gemmae, make field identification straight forward.

SN71K square bash

As a birthday treat, I spent the morning looking at a short section of the Afon Llynfell and stopped for quick searches on a couple of nearby coal tips. The tips weren't particularly exciting, though Ptilidium ciliare was locally frequent. Similarly, the riparian woodland of the Llynfell was unremarkable, though should return a decent total once the records are entered and tallied. However, the most interesting observation of the day was a lovely colony of Grimmia orbicularis (I've not checked the book yet, but I'm not aware of any lookalikes?) - I'm not sure what compelled me to stop, but somehow it just looked different to other Grimmia-topped walls as I was driving along Coedffaldau SN74461141. The wall was capped with a coarse concrete mix and the main associates were Schistidium crassipilum and G. pulvinata, with smaller amounts of S. apocarpum, Tortula muralis, Syntrichia montana, Bryum capillare, Orthotrichum anomalum, Homalothecium sericeum and Barbula sardoa. I didn't count the tufts, but there must be in excess of 50. Fresh tufts G. pulvinata were obviously brighter green, though older ones were quite similar to orbicularis and I wasn't sure about some of the non-fruiting intermediates.

 southern-most plants noted, the colony extending close to the end of the wall in the distance