Back in about 2000 Sam and I
carried out a vegetation and bryophyte survey at Craig y Fro by the A470 near
Craig Cerrig-gleisiad NNR. One of the bryos that sticks in my mind from
the survey is Plagiopus oederianus,
which we found growing in some abundance behind a holly bush on the
crags. I stopped by briefly the other day to see how the Plagiopus is doing and was pleased to see it seems to be
doing just fine. It is quite a
distinctive plant when fruiting, looking a bit like a large, loosely tufted, Amphidium mougeotii but with small Bartramia-like fruits growing out of
it. Actually, not many of the tufts had mature
sporophytes, but on one patch they were abundant.
I had a brief look around, paying
my respects to the likes of Bartramia
pomiformis, Amphidium and Aneoectangium aestivum and there were a
few pinkish tufts of Orthothecium intricatum
here and there.
Wilson’s filmy-fern was
looking good, with green spleenwort reasonably frequent and there were also a few
patches of the very attractive lichen Solorina
saccata.
Some beds along this line
of crags are very calcareous and back in 2000 we recorded Cololejeunea calcarea in one area.
I noticed a patch of Brachydontium trichodes on top of a
boulder – it is quite a while since I have seen this moss and I had forgotten how
small it is. A nearby flush had some nice
patches of Blindia acuta and a very
pink tuft of Philonotis calcarea.
I'd love to see those little apples Graham if you have a grid ref or site photo?
ReplyDeleteOk .. Will do.
ReplyDeleteThat's a fabulous moss. Lovely stuff Graham.
ReplyDeleteIt is always nice to see it - there is a good scatter of records from calcareous rocks across the BBNP, but SN92 seems to be a bit of a hotspot
ReplyDelete