This is another one from Merthyr Common last week. It was growing as a dense patch on a wet, shady rock face (sandstone/shale, fairly base rich).
I thought this might be J. pumila. This size is about right (stems 1.5-2mm across) and it is not aromatic (verified by Liz who has a better sense of smell than me). However, I can't find any fertile material, so perhaps it is not possible to confirm it is this species and not J. atrovirens, or something else entirely.
Comments welcome, thanks.
Looks like Jungermannia to me and it appears there are some male shoots, but I can't go beyond that from the images sorry
ReplyDeleteThanks Barry. Fortunately I have found a second sample, from elsewhere at the site, and this one is fertile with plenty of perianths and a few sporophytes. It took me a while, but I eventually found tiny male organs on the same shoots as the perianths, so therefore it is paroecious and presumably must be J. pumila.
ReplyDeleteExcellent - a nice record of a species that seems to be restricted to the northern margins of the county, but cant help thinking it must be present in the central valleys too?
ReplyDeleteAre you sure this plant is the same as your J pumila? Its leaves are rounded and the insertion is very narrow, so this looks rather more like J sphaerocarpa or J obovata. Are there any pigmented rhizoids?
ReplyDeleteOoh right. I'm away for a couple of weeks so will have to look into this when I get home. Thanks.
ReplyDeleteThe plants were a few hundred metres apart and in slightly different habitats, so could well be different species.