Glyntaff

I gave a butterfly talk at University of South Wales' Glyntaff campus yesterday - a good opportunity to boost the tetrad total for ST08Z, which stood at 27 taxa. Most of these were grots recorded by Barry and me, but a few nicer species had been recorded across the valley, including Preissia quadrata by Peter Sturgess.

I arrived early, giving time for a scramble up a steep wooded slope above the campus - horrible lower down with dense bramble and slippy soil, but much nicer at the top of the wood with some large sandstone outcrops.

These didn't produce much of interest - just typical acidophiles such as Lepidozia reptans and Cephalozia bicuspidata. The only species of note in the wood was Orthodontium lineare growing on a rotten oak log (surprisingly, the first time I've seen it locally).

Afterwards I had a quick look in St Mary's Churchyard further down the slope, and this proved marginally more interesting than the wood with Racomitrium aciculare growing on three flat graves (including one which was covered in it) and a small patch of Cirriphyllum piliferum.

The tetrad total has now scraped past the 60 mark, but there's potential for many more if the Taff riverbank can be accessed.