A few patches of a rather small, compact and shortly-branched
E. striatum were noted growing on a Limestone exposure at the southern end of Rhossili Down, and looked odd enough to compel me to bring some home to check for
E. meridionale. I can't find any photographs of the leaves of the latter on line, but Smith shows
meridionale as having rounded-quadrate rather than rectangular alar cells. Whilst the cells weren't as rectangular as shown, I'm reasonably satisfied this is just
striatum. I thought it was worth posting a few pics to illustrate how this species can appear when growing exposed on coastal slopes. Main associates
Trichostomum brachydontium, Saccogyna viticulosa and
Fissidens dubius. As always, any comments on the id welcome.
Eurhynchium angustirete looks more like E striatum. I can't remember the ID features though. It's not very likely, given that it has a continental distribution in Europe.
ReplyDeleteThat's one I'll have to look up elsewhere. It's a long shot I know, but can't help feeling there's a remote possibility of meridionale in Gower, or even the Vale
ReplyDelete