Crymlyn Burrows

A patch of Syntrichia ruralis ssp. ruraliformis lacking hairpoints was something I've not come across previously. I could find any reference to varietal status, though the reduced hairpoint character seems analogous to that of S. montana var. calva. The site is comprised brownfield dune vegetation on rubble and sand behind the hard engineered sea defences. Lots of Glaucium flavum too, with close to 300 counted.

At Penllergaer, a large mound of Leucobryum glaucum that had developed at the base of a large Rhododendron at  was new for SS69, though the tree had been cut down and the regrowth provided minimal shade / humidity. It looks like this area could be lost to the expanding residential development taking place at the site. 

Puzzling Philonotis

I collected this somewhat nondescript Philonotis earlier in the week, during a visit to Pengwern Common, hoping that it might be caespitosa. Unfortunately it did not key out cleanly as anything, though the highly unlikely P. marchica came very close. So another one I'd welcome a second opinion of in the first instance. The presence of obvious distal papillae on the outer part of the leaf is more a feature of arnellii, though the leaves are not narrow or attenuated enough for that species. Perhaps more significant was the presence of axillary ovate bulbils on many shoots, this being a feature of marchica, with arnellii producing flagelliform axillary bulbils.

On a separate note it was good to record Leucobryum glaucum at several points across the site, this being a surprisingly localised species in Gower. I suspect it does not cope well with regular burning?

Puncheston Common

Following our weekend twitch to see the Green Heron in the garden pond of Simon Hart MP, we headed up to Goodwick to look for the Black Guillemots. On the way I managed to convince the gang that Puncheston Common would be a good place to stop and decant our flasks and have a 15-20 minute break, hopefully this giving me enough time to relocate one of Sam's Hamatocaulis vernicosus sites. We stopped by the Waldo Williams plaque and after wandering around for 10 minutes I finally found some healthy patches of Hamatocaulis in very soggy ground surrounding the willows shown centre-right in the above photo. Capsules were reasonably frequent in one patch, which may be of note given the text books all state capsules are rare. The richer orange hues and thicker stems made plants stand out in comparison to Sarmentypnum exannulatum, which was much more frequent at the site. Now it's on my radar, I'd love to find this in Gower.

 

An unexpected bonus was a small but healthy population of Sphagnum platyphyllum at the same locality (photos below), though with warnings of how denticulatum can appear almost identical I'd welcome comments on my id. The texts I have indicate the double layer of cortical cells rule out this potential confusion with denticulatum, plus all the other key characters fit perfectly. The centre of the colony had rather well grown material (the darker of the images below), which looked quite different to the straggly big-budded smaller shoots, but microscopically they were identical. If correct this would represent a westwards extension to the population.

Other species noted at this wonderfully rich site included Anagallis tenella, Breutelia chrysocoma, Calliergon cordifolium, Drosera rotundifolia, Leucobryum glaucum, Menyanthes trifoliata, Narthecium ossifragum, Pedicularis sylvatica, Plagiothecium denticulatum var. denticulatum, Sphagnum squarrosum, S. tenellum, S. teres, Straminergon stramineum, Viola palustris and Wahlenbergia hederacea. This richness contrasts strongly with a lot superficially similar, but much poorer sites in Gower, which makes me wonder how much of an impact burning has on bryophytes, especially given how regular burning is carried out on the commons these days. I wonder if the Pembroskeshire commons are burned less frequently, or is the oceanic effect a bigger factor?

One final note on Leucobryum, it's worth pointing out that the first leaf section I looked at initially made me believe that the plants on the common were juniperoideum and it's only as I was expecting glaucum that I double checked. I'm sure you all do anyway, but do make sure that you cut leaf sections from the basal part of the leaf only. Both images below are from he same L. glaucum plant.

One of the more productive 15 mins in the field I've spent looking at bryophytes, although it was backed up by an hour or so of microscope work!

Surprise in a jar

There were some quite large and attractive clumps of Leucobryum juniperoideum, which were deliberately included as part of the planting scheme in a glass jar planter, along with plants of Tillandsia, at Wyevale today. There was no evidence on the label to indicate where this material came from, nor that it was harvested from a sustainable source. It's impossible to know whether this is just a one off chance inclusion, or whether Leucobryum has been deliberately targeted by moss-gatherers, but the occurrence is a little worrying. Other similar jars seemed to be mostly filled with Hypnum, so maybe this was just a one-off, but do keep an eye open if you happen to visit any Wyevale outlets.

Another item of bryological interest was a rather pricey Olive tree, which was reported to be 400 years old. Near the base of the trunk was some fruiting Barbula unguiculata and what looks like a non-fruiting Orthotrichum, though the growth form seems odd for this genus, so maybe it's a member of the Poticeae? Any suggestions welcome?

Leucobryum juniperoideum in conifer forests - again

Scots Pine plantation, Ton Mawr

This is the 3rd record for L. juniperoideum in a conifer forest in almost as many weeks, this time in a Scots Pine plantation in Ton Mawr, and I'm getting the impression that it may be widely distributed in our plantations. It never seems to be plentiful and it is easy to miss among the huge amounts of Pseudotaxiphyllum elegans that it often grows with. Goodness knows how much of it we miss, but as is often the case, once you know something is possible it sharpens your eyes.

Leucobryum juniperoideum, Scots Pine plantation, Ton Mawr

Also of interest was a small amount of Crepidotus epibryus, which you might expect to be associated with bryophytes, but rarely is. It's fairly small (<1cm), white and very furry - virtually unmistakable.

Crepidotus epibryus (upside down) on Bramble, Ton Mawr

And a nice group of Inocybe fuscidula var. fuscidula, a very common Fibre Cap which is rarely recorded - the cafe-au-lait coloured cap is a good clue.

Inocybe fuscidula var. fuscidula, Ton Mawr

Leucobryum juniperoideum in Sitka Spruce plantation

Leucobryum juniperoideum under Sitka Spruce, Garnwen, Afan Forest Park

Mature Sitka forests in the South Wales uplands have something of the look and feel of the coniferous, temperate rainforests of the Pacific Northwest.  Unlike the younger, rather barren Sitka thickets, the older forests let in significant amounts of light, which together with their cool, humid atmosphere, provides ideal conditions for bryophytes and ferns. Common associates are Rhytidiadelphus loreus, Plagiothecium undulatum, Pseudotaxyphyllus elegans, Hypnum jutlandicum, Hylocomium splendens, Thuidium tamariscinum, Campylopus flexuosus, Dicranella heteromalla, Sphagnum fimbriatum and Diplophyllum albicans. Others like Hookeria lucens and Dicranum majus are more occasional. The Atlas tells us that Leucobryum juniperoideum can also be expected in conifer forests. Decades ago I saw it in the Lodgepole Pine forest near Pluck Lake (Lower Swansea Valley). Recently we revisited the site but couldn't find it again. But this afternoon, sheltering from the monsoonal rain, we just happened to come across a small population (SS83519223) in a mature Sitka coupe between Drysiog and Garnwen (opposite Maesteg Golf Course). Standing trees at the edge of the forest have ubiquitous Colura while self thinning has resulted in the accumulation  of deadfall in all stages of decay, some logs with lots of Nowellia curvifolia. 

Mynydd Garthmaelwg

On Saturday we had a family excursion to this mixed woodland, also known locally as Smaelog or Smilog, or just plain old Llantrisant Forest. The kids soon lost interest in looking for mushrooms and spent a fair while mucking about climbing on logs, which gave me some time for bryo recording. This part of RCT is seriously under-recorded and the two main tetrads covering the forest, ST08H and ST08C, had only 24 and 4 bryo taxa recorded respectively.

We walked alongside a large clearfell which proved rather good, with a small rotten log covered in Nowellia curvifolia and a few small cushions of Leucobryum growing on humus. As Barry and Charles have noted in earlier blog posts, the relative lengths of the upper and lower parts of the leaves proved unhelpful in determining the species due to the variability of this feature. But like Barry and Charles I was able to take a leaf section to confirm it was, as expected, L. juniperoideum.

 

On a trackside bank were some good patches of Rhytidiadelphus triquetrus, an uncommon species in south-east Glamorgan. It's a big forest and I'm sure there'll be plenty of other bryophytes to discover. I look forward to returning.

Leucobryum in Crynant

Prompted by Barry's last post I dug out a specimen I took from a Leucobryum colony H and I found in peaty Molinia heathland at the edge of an oak-birch woodland. There was just one neat colony, at the side of a path, which looked dead right for L. glaucum to me at the time.

Leucobryum in Crynant (photo taken in July 2014)

L. glaucum is more likely in this sort of habitat than L. juniperoideum (I thought). I remember checking the leaves and convincing myself that the lower, wide portion was at least as long as the narrow upper part. I recorded L. glaucum. When I revisited my specimens today I found leaves that would fit descriptions of either or both species (re: Barry's comments in last post), some with very long narrow upper portions that I shouldn't have ignored at the time. So, I cut some leaf costa sections from the lower part of the leaf and they show the 2-cell thick structure that is indicative of L. juniperoideum. 

Now, when I look at my original photos the colonies do look more lax than the typical compact cushions formed by L. glaucum, of which there are classic examples in the lower Hepste valley below Scwd yr Eira. Mea culpa.

Glynrhigos Farm

rocks in Afon Dulais with abundant Schistidium rivulare

A friendly (and slightly bemused) farmer at Glynrhigos Farm kindly permitted access for me to record along the Afon Dulais section that passes through SN70R today and I must say despite the rain, it was nice to spend an hour and a half bryologising in the evening, finishing at 7:30pm. The main highlight from this square-bash was a 15cm x 15cm mound of  Leucobryum juniperoideum (confirmed by leaf section - photos below) wedged in a root gap at the base of an oak. Other species of interest included Calypogeia muelleriana, Chiloscyphus pallescens, Lejeuanea patens, Nowellia curvifolia, Orthodontium lineare, Plagiomnium rostratum, Schistidium rivulare & Trichostomum tenuirostre. The square is now on 85 (in fact now 91 after this morning's additional dets.), but a future visit to grassy heaths and coniferous plantations on higher ground at Mynydd Marchywel, plus more epiphyte recording (poorly sampled today) should comfortably take the square over 100.

Leucobryum juniperoideum at base of oak

lower part of the L. juniperoideum mound

L. juniperoideum leaf sections

Trichostomum tenuirostre