Cefn Bryn flushes revisited

Shoots of an interesting looking Cephalozia, which were scattered through several mounds of Sphagnum subnitens growing in an area of mild base flushing @ SS49679051 proved to be pleniceps under the microscope, based on leaf morphology (photos above). I’ll send a voucher to Sam as this is new for Glamorgan. Otherwise I only had limited time to check on a small area around the colony of Palustriella falcata I noted earlier this year (I wanted to double check that I had correctly identified it following the recent nearby discovery of Hamatocaulis – it was just P. falcata - photos below). The spring line below where the Bracken ends (visible in aerial above) holds species such as Anagallis tenella, Campylium stellatum, Ctenidium molluscum, Fissidens adianthoides and Philonotis calcarea. This is the first time I’ve looked at this faeture and I only had time for 10 minutes here, so well worth a revisit. Cefn Bryn continues to turn up interesting bryophytes and Sphagnum platyphyllum is my new target now H. vernicosus has been ticked off – there were some good pretenders today in the area with P. falcata and Scorpidium cossonii, but it was just odd-looking denticulatum unfortunately. Checks of a couple of Bryum samples from burnt areas of acid ground proved to be bornholmense, which I would suggest is probably quite frequent at this site.

 Vegetation on left side of stream with abundant P. falcata & S. cossonii

Sychryd scramble

On the 20th a climb up through the complex of boulders and falls along the Glamorgan side of the Sychryd boosted the totals for SN90D from 90 to 159 and SN90E from 41 to 106. Highlights from the limestone section included scattered colonies of Cololejeunea calcarea (photo 1 below), Neckera crispa (just one small tuft noted), Oxyrrhynchium schleicheri (one small colony), Rhynchostegiella teneriffae (sheets of it above water line, photo 2), Seligeria acutifolia (small amounts at 2 locations, photo 3), S. donniana (only 1 fruiting patch seen,, photo 4), Taxiphyllum wissgrillii (1 patch noted on a small embedded rock) & a little Dermatocarpon miniatum (photo 5).

A couple of logs in the higher acid section of the gorge supported species including Barbilophozia attenuata, Blepharostoma trichophyllum, Cephalozia catenulata (photo 1 below), Dicranodontium denudatum & Riccardia palmata, plus there were a couple of nice patches of Hymenophyllum tunbridgense half way up the valley side.

Of note for the wrong reason was a single 10cm x 10cm patch of Lophocolea semiteres established on the track as you walk down the north side of Dinas Rock.

Earlier in the day on the way up the Neath Valley, three lay-by stops along the A465 all showed that the putative Didymodon australasiae is a well established component of the verge dirt zone along this road. A little Ephemerum minutissimum was also collected and checked under microscope at one of the stops.

Slug pellet fungus

Well, that's my name for it, as I could not find anything to match it during a brief online search. I did come across a paper discussing bryosymbiotic microfungi, listing Cepahlozia as a host, but there was no named species, nor description. This fungus appears to be present on Calypogeia fissa too, so would appear not be host-specific. If anyone knows anything about this small but striking fungus I'd love to know. For ref, I encountered it during yesterday's lunchtime 'mundane habitat' search - a ditch between colliery spoil and Molinia mire (photo) - spot the Osmunda, the main bryo-elements being Calypogeia arguta, Pellia epiphylla, Sphagnum fimbriatum and Dicranella heteromalla.

More bits and pieces

With limited time for square bashing lately, I thought I'd start to target a few squares close to home which are lacking records of the 10 commonest species. So, today I walked Alfie on Fairwood Common in an effort to add Ceratodon purpureus to SS59R and ended up spending 45 minutes splodging around the boggy area opposite the entrance to the university playing fields (SS576925). There were no major surprises, but it was nice to find Cephalozia connivens and a few patches of Sphagnum compactum on a bog / wet-heath mosaic where there was a great abundance of Hypericum elodes. A few calcicoles were found adjacent to the road, where I suspect buried Limestone chippings provide localised base enrichment in a square otherwise dominated by calcifuge species.

C.connivens growing in Trichophorum tussock, the main associates 

being Hyp.jut., Cal.fis,, Cep.bic., Mni.hor. & Cam.pyr. 

Sphagnum compactum

Straminergon stramineum growing
through mounds of Sphagnum subnitens

I did eventually find some Ceratodon...

North of Pontardawe

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.

Penllergare Woods

We took Alfie for a brisk walk and a cup of tea at lunch time today and although I wasn't looking for bryophytes it's difficult not to be inquisitive when you see something interesting, which happened to be a large decorticated log (above) with a brighter green covering than normal. This turned out to be only the third record of Cephalozia lunulifera for Glamorgan, though most probably is overlooked when growing in smaller quantity than this. Associates included Tetraphis pellucida, Orthodontium lineare and Nowellia curvifolia.

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

Waterfall Country - a bryological paradise

The Nedd, Mellte, Hepste and Pyrddin valleys are bryologically outstanding, with oceanic species such as Aphanolejeunea microscopica and Plagiochila exigua reaching their southern British limit, and some scarce woodland species in quite remarkable abundance.  Graham had to formulate a view on likely management impacts in an area of the Dyffrynnoedd Nedd a Mellte SAC that had no previous bryophyte records, and I accompanied him on a visit yesterday so that we could get as full a picture of the locality's richness as possible... and boy was it rich!

Jubula and Jamesoniella were in here

The day started with Bartramia ithyphylla and Pohlia wahlenbergii both with sporophytes on outcrops above the track, then a check of some crags in the river's flood zone produced Distichium capillaceum and fruiting Mnium marginatum, with plentiful Grimmia hartmanii on boulders nearby.  A log by the path held the first Cephalozia catenulata of the day, alongside Nowellia, and these were soon followed by the first Jamesoniella autumnalis on a log in a ravine.  A side-valley of the main river held an incredible abundance of both Jamesoniella (on logs and rocks) and Anastrophyllum hellerianum (on humid oak trunks), as well as the 3rd known colony of Jubula hutchinsiae in the SAC.  I suggested that the rocks looked suitable for Tetrodontium brownianum, and sure enough some overhangs in a ravine were bristling with this species.  Highlight of the day came as we made our way back south along the foot of a sunny crag: peardrop-scented Frullania fragilifolia, new for the SAC and the hectad, with Plagichila bifaria at its 2nd SAC locality nearby.  The day was thoroughly worthwhile because we can now work out exactly how to carry out management that will benefit the woodland and its outstanding bryophyte flora.

Photos of most of those highlights follow: only the Anastrophyllum and Plagiochila escaped my camera.


Bartramia ithyphylla

teeny tiny Cephalozia catenulata

a cushion of Distichium capillaceum

Frullania fragilifolia (peardrop scent unfortunately not apparent from this photo)

Grimmia hartmanii with typically falcate leaves

Male Jamesoniella autumnalis on a log

Brackets of Jubula hutchinsiae in a ravine

fruiting Mnium marginatum

fruiting Pohlia wahlenbergii (not something I see fruiting very often at all)

Tetrodontium brownianum growing vertically downwards