Thursday 8 November 2018

Odd Lophocolea in Monmouth


I stopped briefly in Monmouth this morning to check some roadside fungi (just a Tricholoma sp.) I had noticed, and then grabbed a bit of the Lophocolea growing below the fungus. It looked consistently small and I had hopes of L. bispinosa, but a check with the lens revealed that many leaves were 3- or even 4-dentate. I brought a bit home, and the microscope revealed the plants were abundantly male but that the 3-/4-dentate leaves continued a good distance up the stem from any obvious male bracts. The non-decurrent insertion line ruled out L. bispinosa, whilst the overall appearance and strong smell excluded L. brookwoodiana.  I have concluded it's just an odd form of L. bidentata, but have kept the specimen just in case.



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