A job in
Pontardawe yesterday gave me the opportunity to boost a couple of tetrads (SN70H
& SN70I). The sandstone crags in Coedalltacham (SN723048) held small
quantities of Amphidium mougeotii and Diphyscium
foliosum, but despite looking promising held little else of note in this rather
dry hanging oakwood dominated by Luzula
sylvactica. The most interesting event at this location was when I took off
my right welly to remove a stone, then watching it roll and bounce a couple of
times before dropping over a 5m cliff. With plenty Holly and Bramble in the
shrub layer, it was a very prickly descent to retrieve it!
The bryoflora along the banks of the nearby
stream running through more humid, largely acid oak woodland in Cwm Sion (SN729053) was much more
diverse, with frequent Amphidium mougeotii
and Saccogyna viticulosa [photo below] and
occasional Fissidens pusillus, Jungermannia
pumila, fruiting Pseudotaxiphyllum
elegans [photos below] and a small quantity of Trichostomum tenuirostre [couple of small shoots in top photo below]. Wefts of Heterocladium
heteropterum were a bit confusing as cell shape (4:1 ratio) fit var. heteropterum, but size was much
better for var. flaccidum - any advice welcome. Also I'd be grateful if anyone could let me know what the spiky rudimentary leaves are, which to the naked eye looked like dark reddish fuzz growing on rock, under shaded overhangs [bottom two photos below]? [identified by Sam as Tetrodontium brownianum].
Finally a
quick stop at a bog on Cefn Gwrhyd (SN725064), which looked interesting with frequent Hypericum elodes, Menyanthes trifoliata and nine species of Sphagnum, produced records of Cladopodiella fluitans and Warnstorfia
fluitans [photos below]. A Cephalozia looked interesting but I couldn't make it anything other than bicuspidata.
You've got nice photos of Tetrodontium there😀. I think the Tortella is actually Oxystegus.
ReplyDeleteExcellent thanks for that Sam. I knew it was something different, but was struggling without capsules - now i know it when it's not fruiting it will be interesting to see if it turns up elsewhere...
ReplyDeleteI'm not sure about the Oxystegus. The leaves have a very clean V transition between the larger, hyaline basal cells and the smaller cells in the green part of the lamina. Also the margins are entire, not irregular like tenuirostre tends to be. I was surprised to find tortuosa in what was essentially a very acid site, which is why I posted the pic for interest. I've got some microscope pics which I'll add to the bottom of the post...
Just looked at images on the Swiss Bryophyte site and I can see you're right about the Oxystegus. I did actually use the key to genus in Smith, so that's where it went wrong - thanks for the correction.
ReplyDeleteGreat record of Tetrodontium, and useful to see a field photo of the protonemal leaves to help us know what to look for.
ReplyDeleteAlso useful to know that O. tenuirostre can look more like Tortella than I realised.
Some great records for NPT there Barry, particularly Tetradontium.
ReplyDeleteOxystegus vs Tortella is troublesome - I am sure that several records of the latter from Carms rivers/ravines are wrong.
ReplyDeleteI showed you all Tetrodontium by the Mellte, but I guess there was a lot else to see that day 😄
I do remember the Tetrodontium Sam, but only the capsules :-)
ReplyDeleteDitto - It was a bit drippy under there that day to notice the leaves. Re Oxystegus vs Tortilla it may be worth a review of records away from the Limestone areas, though I don't anticipate there has been any major confusion as well-grown Oxystegus is fairly straight forward.
ReplyDelete