Fossombronia spores

Not the best photos but I thought it would be nice to share them. I've had no luck in the past with finding fruiting Fossombronia, and therefore hadn't been able to identify any specimens to species level until now. A visit to the in-laws in Cornwall over the bank holiday gave me the chance to check a patch of Fossombronia on their garden path (growing in the cracks between the flag stones). I found this patch at Christmas but there were no sporophytes at the time (I kept some thalli in a sealed pot for a few days, but no luck). Thankfully a few sporophytes were present last weekend and allowed confirmation of F. pusilla. Although not a scarce species, the combination of the ornamented spores and spiralled elaters made for a rather beautiful arrangement. 

Fossombronia pusilla spores and elaters

Fossombronia pusilla spores and elaters