Thursday, 13 November 2014
Trichostomum brachydontium on a wall top
On my way to a meeting in Brecon today I stopped in a lay-by on the A470 at Abercanaid to spend a few minutes recording bryophytes. There was a small section of mortared wall bearing a plaque, which supported the usual wall-top suspects but also Fissidens dubius on the shaded side of the wall and, more surprising to me, a small patch of what I'm fairly sure is Trichostomum brachydontium on mortar on the wall top. The Carms and Pembs floras don't seem to mention walls as a habitat for this species, but I note Barry has recorded it from limestone walls on Gower. In this case the wall wasn't calcareous but the mortar was obviously to its liking.
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T.b. is one those species which early on I could feasibly have misidentified, especially as I was initially focussed on the coast where it was pretty much the default acrocarp. Now you have raised the question I'll revisit one or two sites and re-examine these records.
ReplyDeleteI don't think of Tb as a wall-top species; Gymnostomum aeruginosum is perhaps more likely, but Barbula unguiculata would be the most plausible lingulate acrocarp. Did you collect a bit, George?
ReplyDeleteYes I kept a sample. I don't think it's unguiculata, which I've seen lots of recently - the leaves look too long and the margins are only recurved basally.
ReplyDeleteFor Tb, Smith mentions crevices in walls, and Watson gives wall-tops as one of the habitats for this species, so perhaps it's not as unlikely as I thought. But I'll be sure to pass Sam the sample at some stage...