Glynneath Bryophytes

Photograph of the Jubula site below. The waterfall (just a trickle really) sits in a little amphitheatre and access is easy from the old trackway, but it is quite wet and muddy. Nowelia curvifolia grows on decorticated logs to the left (not in photo). There's a lot of Jubula there and also abundant Pellia endiviifolia and Hyocomium armoricum and other stuff. Also a small amount of Galium odoratum, which is also scarce in NPT. The Jubula grows on and around the black, coal-like rock face.

Jubula hutchinsiae site, Glynneath

The right arm of the amphitheatre is clothed in Blechnum spicant and Luzula sylvatica with thick mats of Diplophyllum albicans. 

In addition to conspicuous species mentioned in the last post, Lejeunea lamacerina is plentiful on the vertical sandstone embankment along the trackway and Odontoschisma denudataum grows on rotting logs in nearby Cwm Rhy-y-gau. The steep woodland above and below the trackway is a fine example of an ancient Wych Elm-Hazel woodland with local stands of Small-leaved Lime. The River Neath here has an interesting population of the freshwater red alga, Lemanea fluviatilis as well as the usual riparian bryos.