Burning off the Xmas fat

This morning I went for a walk with the family to the top of Mynydd Troed which overlooks Llangorse Lake and reaches a reasonable height of 609m.  Looking up from where we parked, the hill didn’t look to have much potential for bryos, with few rock outcrops and no signs of seepages or streams.   The path up passed through mostly heathland where the bryophyte cover consisted almost entirely of a mix of Pleurozium schreberi, Hylocomium splendens and Pseudoscleropodium purum, although I did manage to spot a bit of one of my favourite liverworts Ptilidium ciliare at the heathy edge of a lichen covered boulder poking out of the ground.  Halfway up the hill an outcrop about 1m high proved to be quite base-rich with some very nice patches of Tortella bambergeri (as was), sheets of very chunky Hypnum lacunosum and scattered tufts of Grimmia pulvinata. 

Other rock outcrops slightly further up the slope were acidic and largely devoid of moss, with just a few patches of Dicranoweissia cirrata and Grimmia trichophylla.  From near the trig point is a nice view of the ridge above Pengenffordd and today it was topped off with a bit of snow.  In the valley below are the remains of what must have been an impressive castle in its day.  If you ever visit this castle take a look at the walls and outcrops on the lowest parts as they support one of the largest populations of Encalypta vulgaris in Breconshire. 

Just north of the trig point are some small crags, about 3m to 4 m high.   Again these proved to be very acidic with lots of Hypnum cupressiforme, some Isothecium myosuroides and a lot of algae.   At the base of the crags though were a few more interesting species such as Marsupella emarginata and a few crevices had the likes of Amphidium mougeotii and Fissidens adianthoides. 

A nearby grassy area held a few frosted shoots of Rhytidiadelphus loreus amongst a turf of mostly R. squarrosus.  

Back down near the car I noticed a small mound, probably an old anthill, with a bit of Ceratodon and a small Bryum that looked like rubens, for a change I had remembered to bring my handlens and so was able to see the bright red tubers amongst the rhizoids.  I must remember to make a point of looking for this moss as there are very few Breconshire records.  

So the hill seemed to be as bryologically poor as it first looked, although I didn't wander far from the path, but at least I got out in the field, a rare event this winter, and made some records for a poorly recorded square.  Also that Pengenffordd ridge looks inviting, with some better crags towards the Hay-on-Wye end and hopefully I'll get up there in 2018.

Pal y Cwrt pit stop

Last Saturday we went for a drive over Mynydd Du and during a pit stop at Pal y Cwrt in the hope of a migrant Ring Ouzel (none, but lots of Wheatears in song) I noticed a lovely patch of Antennaria dioica, which was lf in a 6m x 4m area at SN67681813. I made a very quick list of associates and grabbed a small sample with a mix of liverworts and some fruiting Weissia for checking, from the location arrowed above, these being: Ctenidium molluscum, Ditrichum gracile, Encalypta streptocarpa, Hypnum cupressiforme var. lacunosum, Lophozia excisa, Plagiochila porelloides, Thymus polytrichus, Tortella tortuosa and Weissia brachycarpa var. obliqua. My sample also contained shoots that look very much like Bryum kunzei, which is not known from Carmarthensire, so I'll send the sample to Tom, unless Sam would like to take a look first.

Encalypta vs Tortula

I see your excurrent green Tortula nerve, George, and raise one of my own.  This is from an Encalypta 'vulgaris' on the limestone of Creigiau Eglwyseg in Denbighshire from a couple of weeks ago.  However, the Floras say that E. vulgaris has the nerve ending in the leaf tip and Tom Blockeel recently published the occurrence of the excurrent-nerved E. pilifera in Britain (including a collection of mine from the NE Wales limestone).  The costa of E. pilifera is usually much longer than this, but the lingulate leaf shape also points to that species.  I am puzzled!

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.

Radnorshire riches

A couple of years ago I stopped for a lunchtime walk on Aberedw Rocks SE of Builth Wells, and found a rock covered with Grimmia laevigata and another with abundant G. decipiens.  Both were new to the site, and they suggested that it could be a very rich area for saxicolous mosses.  Targionia hypophylla has been known there for several decades, and there is an intriguing 20th century record of Bartramia stricta from the site, which was purged at the same time as one from Pembrokeshire [so effectively that I couldn't find out where the Pembs claim was made].

Since then the site has been on my 'to do' list, and a sunny 27th April seemed ideal.  I didn't find B. stricta or any more of either Grimmia, but there were several other good species present, including Marchesinia mackaii (photo), Bartramia ithyphylla, Pohlia cruda, Frullania fragilifolia, Seligeria recurvata, Plagiochila bifaria, P punctata & P spinulosa, Porella arboris-vitae (photo) and Orthothecium intricatum.

The two rarest species were the Nationally Scarce Plagiopus oederianus (photo, with some Bartramia pomiformis for comparison), which is abundant on north-facing rock outcrops, and the Nationally Scarce Encalypta ciliata (photo), which was only present in one small area and was last recorded on the site in 1923.

Biggest surprise was a tuft of Orthotrichum rupestre (photo), which only has 3 previous Radnorshire records and remains unknown further SW in Wales.  Its very hairy calyptra, superficial stomata, upright exostome teeth and half-pliccate capsules were distinctive.

I thought that the highlight of the day was going to be a round-leaved liverwort in a flush, which clearly wasn't Odontoschisma and seemed sure to be my first ever Jamesoniella undulifolia.  To my shock and disappointment, I found under the microscope that it had violet rhizoids, making it Jungermannia hyalina very out of habitat.

Overall it was a wonderful day of mossing, and the site is clearly of SSSI quality for its bryophytes.

Encalypta streptocarpa fruiting

I have only seen Encalypta streptocarpa fruiting once before - on a wall in the western Valleys of Glamorgan a couple of years ago.  Today I found this patch, with old setae, in the quarry in Carmel NNR.  As far as I'm aware this is the first time this common species has been seen fruiting in Carms.

Mewslade

During a quiet 15 minutes whilst bird-ringing in Mewslade Valley yesterday I looked at some cliff turf by one of my nets. Encalypta vulgaris with newly emerging capsules proved to be locally frequent in the short turf along with associates such as Aphanes sp., Polytrichum juniperinum, Pseudocrossidium hornschuchianum, Riccia sorocarpa and Trichstomum brachydontium. Whilst this is not a new site for the E. vulgaris, it is an extension to the colony on one of the outcrops I’d looked at last winter and previous observations suggest it is probably scattered throughout the valley wherever there is suitable habitat.

Also growing here was this little Tortula with unripe capsules making id a little problematic. I think it’s a tossup between modica and viridifolia and I’m inclined to go for the latter as some of the hair-points were >500 µm, although the leaves aren't as rounded as depicted in Smith. Other features noted included no apparent peristome (dissected), smooth cells, recurved leaf margins.  Any thoughts on this welcome?