Hillend ORS

Today I finally checked a few specimens I brought back from a 1 hour visit to Hillend, at the northern end of Rhossili Down,on the 4th (the area searched shown above). There is a nice rocky ridge in this area, marking the geological boundary of the Brownstones formation and the Upper ORS. The Frullania on the rocks looked interesting and one of my samples had a mix of tamarisci, dilatata and microphylla var. microphylla, the latter new for the county. I'm pretty confident this is correct and whilst a barely detectable fragrance put a little doubt in my mind, everything else seems spot on. The flat leaves seem to be a good field feature. Occasional burgundy patches of Frullania were dotted around the rocks and whilst I'm not 100% sure which rock my sample came from, I suspect it was that shown in the above photo (approximately SS41939097). I'm sure further searches will reveal further patches with microphylla mixed in. Other species noted included some nice patches of Grimmia trichophylla, Pterogonium gracile and Scleropodium touretii.

G. trichophylla

coastal lichens were much more prominent than bryos.

rocks with Pterogonium, Isothecium myosuroides and Hypnum cupressiforme var. resupinatum

Gilfach, Radnorshire

A quick stop at Radnorshire Wildlife Trust's Gilfach reserve en route back from a meeting produced a few interesting mosses on riverside rocks.  Highlight was Grimmia ramondii (photo), which was frequent on one boulder and is the first Record for VC43.  Nearby were Isothecium holtii (photo) as well as small patches of Platyhypnidium lusitanicum.  Fruiting Scapania compacta (photo) occupied the driest parts of the rocks in the river.

It doesn't look as though next month's BBS Spring Meeting in Radnorshire will be visiting Gilfach, perhaps because it is perceived as being well-recorded.  I'm not sure my 20 minute visit backs up that feeling :-)