Bwlch-y-clawdd (SS9494)

We intended to square bash in SS99N (RCT) only to find that the A4061 above Cwmparc was closed for roadworks - the suggested diversion would have taken ages. We decided to have a look at a small north-facing, sandstone outcrop just off the road and below Mynydd Ton (SS942946).

The scree below the outcrop is populated with large amounts of Racomitrium lanuginosum,  R. fasciculare and Stereocaulon vesuvianum but there are some nice patches of Huperzia selago here too. Much of the Andreaea on the slabs is A. rothii ssp falcata, but there is also a small amount of A.  rupestris.

Huperzia selago and Stereocaulon vesuvianum

Also of interest below the main outcrop is the frequent occurrence of Barbilophozia floerkii and lots of Lophozia ventricosa. We searched for L. sudetica but failed to find any convincing material.

Barbilophozia floerkii

With optimism we climbed up to the outcrop, but the best we could find was a small patch of Hymenophyllum wilsonii, which is frequently present on north-facing sandstone in RCT (and never disappoints). Other stuff included Heterocladium heteropterum, Pohlia nutans and Racomitrium aquaticum. All in all it is a typical, if not spectacular, collection of upland species on a relatively small outcrop which is quite near to a very busy road. You might expect Oreoweisia bruntonii and Bartramia here too, but if they are there they escaped us.

Tony Smith (in A Bryophyte Flora of Glamorgan) describes the Rhondda sandstone outcrops as mostly east-facing and relatively species-poor. I don't know to what extent that has deterred people from exploring these cliffs, but it might explain why species like B. floerkii have been regarded as rare in Glamorgan. In my experience even the small outcrops are worth a look.

Hirwaun Common crags

During an unplanned morning outing last Sunday, I ended up on the north-facing sandstone crags at the northern edge of Hirwaun Common, primarily in an attempt to add to the paltry total of 13 taxa for SN90H. As it happened I was slow getting out of Cwar Canwyllyr [Chandelier Quarry] within SN90G, which already had a respectable total of 111, although I was able to add an additional 20 spp. including some nice patches of Bartramia pomiformis, one of my favourite mosses.

Eventually, I did manage just short of an hour in the target square and managed to take the totals up to a not very impressive 65. The only highlights of any note on these dry acid slopes, with very few outcrops in the section I walked, were a few small that supported healthy patches of bryophyte vegetation. These included a few species of local interest such as Cynodontium bruntonii, Barbilophozia floerkei and Ptilidium ciliare.

isolated small crag supporting the species shown below

Ptilidium ciliare

Barbilophozia floerkei

Cynodontium bruntonii

rather mudane, rank Molinia-Eriophorum vaginatum on top of the hill

attractive, but very species-poor dry heath with co-doinant
Vaccinium myrtillus -Pleurozium schreberi slopes

view to west, looking across to the more interesting Craig y Llyn

Cymmer

There's an imposing north-facing outcrop that hangs high above the A4107 just west of Cymmer and opposite the small village of Abercregan (SS852962). Surprisingly, we've never looked at these acidic, sandstone blocks before, but late yesterday afternoon in fading light we gave them a cursory inspection. In association with an abundance of fairly common liverworts such as Diplophyllum albicans, Gymnocolea inflata and Lophozia ventricosa we noted some nice patches of Ptilidium ciliare, which is not common in NPT.

Ptilidium ciliare, Cymmer

More pleasing was the local abundance of Barbilophozia floerkei and B. attenuata, both of which are fairly scarce in VC41.

Barbilophozia floerkei, Cymmer

Barbilophozia attenuata (and Oreoweisia bruntonii), Cymmer

Other notables were Oreoweisia bruntonii and some fabulous clumps of Scapania gracilis.

Oreoweisia bruntonii, Cymmer

Scapania gracilis, Cymmer

I think a systematic search in better light could be rewarding. Also worthy of note was the abundance of Dryopteris cambrensis in the vicinity, although this is a relatively common species in the uplands of NPT.

Upper Ogwr

This inviting gully, which is accessed from the hairpin bend on the A4061 near Craig Ogwr, has been on our list for some time. So late yesterday afternoon H and I climbed up along the stream towards the sandstone outcrop. The wet gully rocks had lots of Hyocomium armoricum and Racomitrium aciculare and small amounts of Marsupella emarginata while Andreaea rothii ssp. falcata, Racomitrium fasciculare and R. lanuginosa were on dry, exposed boulders and scree. Small patches of Bartramia pomiformis,  Gymnostomum aeruginosum and Saccogyna viticulosus occurred with typical mounds of Amphidium mougeotii on the outcrop, which was otherwise a bit disappointing. I have often looked for Tritomaria quinquedentata in Glamorgan in places like this, and especially at Craig y Llyn where Roy recorded it in the 1970s, without any success. Yesterday, I thought we had found it on the rocks at the top of the gully below the waterfall. Alas, I was blinded by expectation; it was Barbilophozia floerkei (Common Pawwort), which is found in similar places elsewhere in Glamorgan and is not unexpected in upper Ogwr. Nevertheless this subarctic-alpine liverwort is not common in south Wales until you get to the north-western parts of Breconshire and its occurrence in this gully adds a nice dot to its current VC41 distribution map.

 Barbilophozia floerkii, Hairpin Bend Gully

Interestingly, Tony Smith recorded  B. barbata on nearby Craig Ogwr over 50 years ago (NB specimens from the gully had well developed cilia at base of leaves).

Cilia at base of Barbilophozia floerkei leaf

Barbilophozia floerkei underleaf

The new total for this tetrad (SS99H) is 90. There's plenty more to explore.

View of Upper Ogwr the from top of Hairpin Bend Gully

Mellte bits and pieces

Also seen during yesterday's visit to the valley Plagiochila killarniensis (bifaria) in association with Bartramia pomiformis by the cliff path above Sgwd Clun Gwyn Isaf.

Barbilophozia attenuata and Zygodon rupestris on oak, plus Sanionia uncinata on a log below Sgwd y Pannwr.

A trip to north-east Wales

Work took me to Clwyd for 2 nights and 1 day.  The day was spent mapping some very nice limestone grassland, with 50+ Frog Orchid and some Small Pearl-bordered Fritillaries (eventually photographed and IDed, to my disappointment as I was hoping for Pearl-bordered!).  Both evenings were spent on the stunning limestone escarpment of Creigiau Eglwyseg/Trevor Rocks, whilst a pre-breakfast wander by the River Dee just upstream of Llangollen produced a completely different bryoflora.

Eglwyseg is phenomenally spectacular, but its bryoflora doesn't quite live up to its appearance (or to its rich lichen flora).  Some areas, such as World's End, have been regularly worked by bryologists and have been visited by BBS groups, and these hold a few Nationally Scarce species, such as Entosthodon muehlenbergii and Plagiopus oederianus.  Ditrichum flexicaule s.str had been recorded in the past, and the most recent BBS visit revealed Schistidium robustum and Entodon concinnus, but the site looks ideal for rarer things: why aren't Pennine specialities such as Encalypta rhaptocarpa, Mnium thomsonii and Zygodon gracilis there?!  My two sites, to unknown areas in the south of the escarpment, produced a few Nat Scarce mosses, such as D. flexicaule, Pleurochaete squarrosa and potential S. robustum, as well as Encalypta vulgaris, Schistidium elegantulum, Barbilophozia barbata, Tortula subulata and an excellent tufa spring with Philonotis calcarea, but I don't think there are any surprises among my scant collections for checking.  Any bryo walk when I spent my time photographing lichens must be bryologically disappointing!

Barbilophozia barbata among Dicranum scoparium, and Encalypta vulgaris with a view!

The stretch of the Dee that I checked was also disappointing, with the sunny riverside rocks far too shaded by trees and rank vascular plants, and no sign of Grimmia laevigata or G. ovalis (I hope they are still nearby...).  Equally down-curved Pterogonium gracile and Scleropodium cespitans were perhaps the most notable species, although a Grimmia lurking among the Pterogonium might be better.

Downcurved Pterogonium gracile and Scleropodium cespitans by the Dee. 

My daytime survey, in the Eryrys area, produced Entodon concinnus, Didymodon acutus and Pleurochaete squarrosa.

Pleurochaete squarrosa in the Eryrys area.

Both walks on Eglwyseg were enlivened by 100s of Plutella xylostella: part of the massive national influx of this moth.

Plutella xylostella with Dinas Bran in the background.

BBS in Radnorshire - day 1

I joined 4 other bryologists on Maelienydd Common (SO17) in northern Radnorshire on the first day of the spring meeting.  Two other, larger groups were out elsewhere in the county (SO08 and SO18).  We started with a circuit of the central part of the common, passing neutral to base-rich flushes with Scorpidium cossonii, Campylium, Ctenidium, Breutelia and Sphagna, soon reaching a pool edged with 10,000s of Hamatocaulis vernicosus.  Its inflow stream held intriguing submerged Calliergon giganteum.

yes, that's all Hamatocaulis!

Mark Lawley had visited the site once before and had found Barbilophozia kunzeana (a S42 liverwort) then.  He spotted today's first colony, followed a little while later by another patch found by Lucia and Emily, and rounded off by a patch that I spotted (I've only ever seen it once before, at Julian Woodman's site in SW VC35).  It was a reassuringly distinctive thing, with oddly pinched-looking leaf lobes and a couple of underleaves visible on most shoots.  The habitat of Sphagnum mounds in neutral mire seems pretty consistent, but it is always very localised on a site and is easily missed.  There was also some Scapania cf paludicola with very arched keels, but there's ongoing debate as to whether our Welsh plants are actually that or extreme S. irrigua.  A candidate for Jamesoniella undulifolia (which Mark has found at 3 or 4 sites alongside B. kunzeana) may well just be Odontoschisma.

After lunch we headed slightly further west on the common and worked our way up a slightly base-enriched gully with Trichostomum brachydontium, Gymnostomum aeruginosum and Amphidium mougeotii but sadly nothing more exciting.  The highlight there was Aulacomnium androgynum on a lane bank: a real rarity in Wales with very few records in the last 10+ years.  The list was rounded off with a bevy of Orthotrichum on a bridge and trees.

With a couple of hours left until "tea time" we disobeyed Mark Hill's orders to stay in SO17, which we knew another party were also recording in, and headed west into SO07.  We chose some forestry west of Abbeycwmhir, largely because it wasn't included on the programme for the official SO07 visit on Tuesday.  Almost as soon as we parked I spotted Colura new for Radnorshire on a willow (Radnorshire lacks Colura hunters of Charles and Hilary's calibre!).  Typical conifer plantation species such as Plagiothecium curvifolium (new), Polytrichum perigoniale (new), Pohlia annotina, Diplophyllum obtusifolium and Racomitrium ericoides followed.  All in all, it was a good start to the BBS week in Radnorshire, and I don't even know what the other groups found...

Magical Mellte

A small selection of hepatics from yesterday:

Metzgeria conjugata (Rock Veilwort)
growing in tiers on vertical face of large boulder

Barbilophozia attenuata (Trunk Pawwort)
at the base of a Larch trunk

Cephalozia catenulata (Chain Pincerwort)
noted on several decorticated logs

Jamesoniella autumnalis (Autumn Flapwort) &
Blepharostoma trichophyllum (Hairy Threadwort)
on a fallen oak

Leiocolea bantriensis (Bantry Notchwort)
on the vertical face of a flushed river side outctop