Wednesday 11 April 2018

Lightning strikes twice - more Orthotrichum pumilum near Newport

A few hours tetrad-bashing on Saturday afternoon knocked of another 2.5 VC35 tetrads in the Llanmartin/Llandevaud/Kemmys Graig area east of Newport.  Although this is mundane lowland Monmouthshire/Newport, ST39V included the fringes of Wentwood and a few acidophiles such as Diplophyllum albicans and Rhytidiadelphus loreus.  Highlights were:

Orthotrichum pumilum in a hedge by Llanmartin Church, a couple of km from last year's colony and surely indicative of a 'mother load' of this species somewhere in SE Wales.
Gyroweisia tenuis on the mortar of Llanmartin Church.
Cirriphyllum piliferum in Llanmartin Churchyard (rare in the Newport area).
Plagiochila asplenioides in the gutter of Llandevaud Church (rare in the Newport area).
Funaria hygrometrica on forestry tracks at Kemmys Graig (I think this species is declining significantly).



So, not an outstanding day (Orthotrichum notwithstanding), but good to get another couple of squares finished.

1 comment:

  1. Great effort with the square bashing Sam and well done with the Orthotrichum. I think i may have seen this once recently but the capsule wasn't ripe enough to confirm, plus i mashed it up a bit when examining it, so was pointless sending on. I'll keep on trying...

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