Margam sidings

Also known as 'Kenfig marshalling yards', this area is now a stunning brown-field slack full of  goodies.

The 'railway fen' always seems to provide something new each time I visit and a small patch of Pseudocalliergon lycopodioides at SS7913483514 provided the highlight of yesterday's visit. Whilst Calliergonella cuspidata was largely dominant, there's also a lot of Drepanocladus polygamus and D. aduncus in the flooded areas along with a wide range of interesting vascular plants and charophytes; those noted yesterday included Chara virgata, Equisetum variegatum (a), Pyrola rotundifolia subsp. maritima (lf), Cladium mariscus (o-lf) Juncus acutus (lf), J. subnodulosus (la), and Scirpoides holoschoenus. Not too shabby for an area of abandoned industrial land!

L: P. lycopodioides, R: Location shown by plastic box

 L: Equisetum variegatum, R: Scirpoides holoschoenus

L: Chara virgata, R: Cladium mariscus

Leaves of P. lycopodioides, D. aduncus & D polygamus

The drier gravelly sidings also provided a little interest with some nice carpets of Amblystegium serpens var. salinum growing alongside species such as Rhynchostegium megapolitanum, Bryoerythrophyllum recurvirostrum and rather oddly Neckera complanata on open flat ground. A 'golden road' of Schistidium crasspilum was a fine spectacle as the sun started to break through.

 L: Neckera complanata, R: Location shown by knife

 L: Schistidium crassipilum, R: Amblystegium serpens var. salinum

My route

Mumbles car park revisited - and a lesson learned

Mnium stellare centre-slightly left showing up as a
pale greyish patch with twiggy bits sticking out

Just before getting back in the car after a welcome tea break at the Seaside Cafe by Mumbles Pier, I noticed a nice patch of what I thought was Mnium marginatum and I collected a small sample to double check at home. The main associate was M. stellare and what looked like scattered shoots of Amblystegium serpens, though under the microscope I was struck by the prominent dentate margins on many leaves and I was excited to read that Smith states dentate margins at the widest part of the leaf is the best way to separate Conardia compacta from A. serpens! Unfortunately there were no gemmae on the scrappy material in my small sample and the only rhizoids were arising from just below the leaf insertion point (none found on leaf backs, a Conardia feature). I'm suspecting this is probably just toothy A.s. rather than C.c. but any opinions welcome. I'll take a closer look next time we call in for a cuppa...

What I initially thought was Mnium marginatum, when later examined under the microscope, proved to be just the older shoots of M. stellare. The reddish shoots with elongate leaves and apparent borders (in fact just stained marginal cells) contrasted with the fresh pale green egg-shaped leaves of the new growth - lesson learned.

old M. stellare leaves with darkened marginal cells

Pont-lliw breakers yard

Part of yesterday was spent in the lorry breakers yard in Pont-lliw doing a walkover inspection to check for signs of Otters and bats! This gave me the opportunity to do some less rushed bryo-recording than of late and I managed to log 66 taxa at the site. 17 were new to SN60A taking its total to 113. There was nothing to get particularly excited about, the most prominent species being both Barbula convoluta vars, Didymodon fallax and Cratoneuron filicinum. The slightly more interesting records included:  

Two small patches of Climacium dendroides in the yard area and Amblystegium serpens found this engine block to it's liking:

Cryphaea heteromalla was growing luxuriantly on some concrete pipe sections:

Leptodictyum riparium was growing well and fruiting on old tyres in a ditch:

However, this Archidium-sized moss defeated me and I wonder if anyone has any suggestions? It was growing on almost clay-like duff. I’m suspecting it’s young growth of something familiar, but I can’t place it. The strong nerve extends to just below the leaf tip.