A thin crust of soil on an acid sandstone craggy ledge was not where I would have expected to find
Aulacomnium androgynum. The direct associates seemed a bit of an odd mix too, with
Bryum capillare (with very
rufifolium-like leaves) and
Cynodontium bruntonii. This is the 7th Glamorgan tetrad but only the second of the new millennium, the majority of records being made in the period of 1950's - 1970's.
What a super record! Aulacomnium androgynum is now extremely rare in Wales, with a colony on Pembs estuary banks (mirroring one across the Irish Sea by an estuary in Kilkenny) being my only recent record.
ReplyDeleteVC35 records are:
Year Records
1999 8
2000 4
2001 4
2002 2
2004 1
2005 1
2006 2
2007 1
a clear descent to local extinction!
That's really excellent - one I've always wanted to see.
ReplyDeleteGave me quite a buzz to come across a new species that I could recognise instantly. Seems we may at the edge of a decreasing range?
ReplyDeleteAnother great record Barry. Wasn't even on my radar - isn't it supposed to grow on wood? Where is Clawdd Crags?
ReplyDeleteSN67860582 if you want to take a look. During a 20 minute search of the crags I saw only 3 small clusters on the sheltered ledges just north of the big clump of Ivy, but there's probably a scattering along the crags as they're not very obvious being so small. Yes the habitat seemed odd (though it is known from similar sites) as was the associate list, with Bryum capillare mixed in with calcifuge species such as Dip.alb. and Cyn.bru.
ReplyDelete