some Grosmont finds

I haven't Blogged any bryophytes for ages I'm afraid, primarily because I didn't find much of interest over the summer despite fieldwork in N and Mid Wales.  Bea is now doing a drama class near Grosmont one day a week, and that gives me an hour or two in which to look for wildlife in the under-recorded hectad SO42, which is mostly in Herefordshire but includes 8 Monmouthshire tetrads.  Graig Syfyrddin, which rises to >400m, dominates the area and includes some Old Red Sandstone outcrops with species such as Seligeria recurvata and Tortula subulata, whilst the River Monnow meanders along the eastern edge.

First stop, last week, was a bend in the Monnow upstream of Kentchurch.  Old Red Sandstone outcrops held Plagiochila britannica, which is scarce on the county's sandstone, whilst steep soil associated with the outcrops (photo below) supported a tiny Fissidens that proved to be F. crispus (=F. limbatus).  The latter is the first county record for nearly 80 years, though I didn't photograph it in the field because it was getting dark.  Platygyrium repens was on a Crack Willow by the river.

Today's expedition aimed to cover part of SO42G, which includes a large conifer plantation between 100 and 300m altitude and a long section of the River Monnow, but no footpaths in either area.  I followed the only path, along the southern edge of the tetrad, and managed to rack up 48 species.  A return visit to roadside habitats should produce a few more, but it won't be possible to do the area justice unless I can pluck up courage to knock on some doors.  Anyway, the track to Upper Graig passed some arable land with Riccia glauca and Marchantia polymorpha ruderalis, some woodland edge with epiphytes, and then an old quarry where Grimmia trichophylla and Polytrichum piliferum were on sandstone.  Highlight came at the far end of my walk: a massive old Ash at SO42132232 held 50cm2 of Leucodon sciuroides. 

The distribution of Leucodon in VC35 is intriguing.  There are several populations on the Old Red Sandstone of Ysgyryd Fawr and the Black Mountains, a couple at Dingestow on Fraxinus and an Asbestos roof, two on sandstone roof tiles (Dingestow and Penrhos churchs) and one on Fraxinus in the Wye Valley.  I suspect it's overlooked on roofs, but it is clearly mighty rare here.

Leucodon - hanging on

This lunchtime I paid my annual winter visit to the Leucodon colony on Sycamore in Bute Park. I was half expecting to be penning an orbituary after the decline observed last year, which was at least partly caused by physical damage due to tree climbers. But the Leucodon is hanging on, just. It has declined even further since last year, with just a few wispy shoots present around the edge of this formerly fairly dense patch. The photos below are sequential from 2014 to 2017.

 

Will it still be there next year I wonder.

On the cycle home, some grab samples from tarmac added a couple of species for ST17U: Didymodon insulanus and Brachythecium mildeanum. There was a lot of Dialytrichia mucronata and a bit of Syntrichia latifolia present too. I still can't find any Ceratodon in this tetrad!

Maen Llia Leucodon

I was surveying near Ystradfellte on Wednesday and couldn't resist a quick visit to the famous Leucodon sciuroides colony which grows on the Maen Llia standing stone. I was impressed by the quantity of Leucodon on both sides of the stone, growing with a range of calcicoles (I didn't have a lens or take any samples - but I assume the assemblage has been well recorded by Graham and Sam in any case).

The most striking thing is that this scarce moss survives in one of the bleakest, most 'sheepwrecked' parts of the Beacons - apart from the odd hawthorn there was barely a tree in site.

I only had my cheapo work camera so the photos aren't the best - I'm sure some of you have better ones! The Leucodon stands out as the dark patches among the paler green of Homalothecium sericeum. It would be fascinating to accurately map the distribution of the mosses on the stone to see how they change over time (maybe old photos of the stone would help with this?).

East face

West face

 

Leucodon - maybe we're looking in the wrong place!

George's post (http://southwalesbryos.blogspot.co.uk/2016/01/bad-news-for-leucodon.html) about Glamorgan's only patch of Leucodon sciuroides illustrates a patch in a relatively classic epiphytic locus, although this is assumed to be a temporary colonist (akin to the Bristol Zoo Antitrichia and various Orthotrichum).  Only half of the 23 Monmouthshire records of this species are from trees (mostly Ash but also Poplar and Elm); others come from Old Red Standstone blocks (Skirrid, Trewyn & Bryn Arw) and sandstone roof tiles (Penhow & Dingestow Churches).  Most intriguing, though, is a colony on an old mossy corrugated asbestos barn roof here at Dingestow Court.

Leucodon is scattered across most of the left hand end of the roof, with abundant 5-10 cm patches across a 3x3m area.  When I first noticed it in 2008 the patch was denser but a bit smaller (I described it as a 1m wide strip down the height of the roof).  The shoots are pretty big, about 2-3 cm long, and might well fit 'var morensis'.  Some shoots hold abundant axillary branchlets. 

 

Anyway, it's always worth a look on asbestos roofs if you can reach them legally.

Bad news for Leucodon

At lunchtime today I cycled down to Bute Park to make my annual visit to the Leucodon sciuroides patch discovered in 2014. Last year I reported that it seemed to have made some minor advances (see here), but this year the news is much less good. Not only has the centre of the patch almost completely gone, much of what remains looks sickly and it doesn't seem to have made any gains at the colony margins (scroll through the photos below, from 2014 to 2016).

I suspect this is mostly physical damage caused by tree climbers (as the sycamore is almost horizontal it's an easy one to climb) - note the Frullania in the top right has also gone.

The sickly remaining shoots (photo below) may be due to them being isolated from the rest of the colony.

Only the left hand side looks in reasonable nick. The future of Glamorgan's only known patch of Leucodon hangs in the balance. Time for someone to find some more!

Exciting mosses in the Black Mountains

I was surveying Silurian moth habitat on Darren Lwyd today, so it would have seemed rude not to pay my respects to the only known population of Antitrichia curtipendula in south Wales. The crag was looking very different today compared to when Graham visited in January, with all bryophytes looking parched after the recent dry weather. There was a great range of species present on the crag and it took me a while to locate the Antitrichia, but it was pretty obvious once I'd spotted it.

The grapnel-hooked leaf tips were just about discernible with my 10x hand lens. The Field Guide mentions Rhytidiadelphus loreus as a similar species, but I couldn't really see any similarity between the two. Among the many other species on the crag were Pressia quadrata, Frullania tamarisci and Neckera crispa. There was also a female Ring Ouzel nearby.

Later in the day, I investigated some potential Welsh Clearwing birches on the eastern side of Bal Mawr. On the descent I noticed four patches of Leucodon sciuroides on a pollard Ash at SO268297. The Atlas shows several black dots (i.e. recent records) for the Black Mountains, so perhaps this is not such an exciting find here?

Leucodon host tree (moss on other side!)

Around four Leucodon patches on this side of the tree

a few more pics showing fertile / reproductive features to look out for

I just had a quick look through photos to see if I had examples of other features to look out for ....

large gemmae on leaf tips of Grimmia hartmanii (lots in Neath waterfalls area and near Penderyn so should hopefully get into Glam - it may well be on the Glam side of the Afon Nedd above the Angel Inn); tiny plantlets on Leucodon;  male Lunularia; short fruits on Breutelia usually well tucked away in middle of tufts.

Leucodon revisited

This lunchtime I took the short cycle ride down to Bute Park to see how the patch of Leucodon sciuroides which I found last May was faring. As far as I know this is the only currently known patch of Leucodon in VC41. It is growing on a fallen-over semi-mature Sycamore on the Taff riverbank, the roots of the tree having been scoured out by the river leading to its semi-prostrate state.

Leucodon host tree, May 2014. Leucodon patch arrowed.

At the time, Sam commented "I'm sure it'll be a new colonist, though goodness knows where from. As far as I can find there are only 4 Glamorgan records, the most recent being from the 1970s."

Leucodon patch, May 2014

Leucodon patch, February 2015

Compared to last May, the patch appeared a little bigger - it seems to have made ground on the Isothecium myuroides which is above it and to the left in the photos above. It was also rubbing shoulders with Metzgeria furcata, Frullania dilatata, Hypnum cupressiforme var resupinatum and Amblystegium serpens.

Leucodon patch, February 2015

Elsewhere on the same branch grow Cryphaea heteromalla, Homalothecium sericeum, Rhyncostegium confertum, Orthotrichum lyellii and a Ulota sp. It's a good tree for epiphytes.

Like last year, I spent a while searching other trees in the park without luck. Perhaps there really is only this one patch of Leucodon in the area.

Squirrel-tail Mosses

After my Golden Plover count at Pendine this morning, I called in to ask permission from the Mayor of Laugharne (Bob Stevens) to visit the Sir John's Hill population of Habrodon perpusillus (Lesser Squirrel-tail Moss). Aided by Sam’s excellent 2005 report this diminutive pleurocarp wasn't too difficult to locate, although I’m not sure I’d have found it without this, as the resemblance to non-fruiting Cryphaea is very disconcerting. Anyway I'm pleased to report that the site appears unchanged since Sam's survey and plants were found on all the known trees I checked.

The Sycamores in foreground and the Ash by the far bend
define the known limits of the colony

Sycamores 8 (multi-stem on the left), 9 & 10 (centre) along the bottom edge
of Sir John's Hill [8 & 9 both support Habrodon]

Habrodon perpusillus

Unfortunately I did not have time to look elsewhere for additional colonies, but one of the Sycamores (tree 7 in the report) had a few tufts of Leucodon sciuroides (Squirrel-tail Moss) growing on a ~5cm dia. horizontal branch, which is a new hectad record. This was also a new species for me, giving me two squirrel-tail ticks in one day! Now I have these both on my radar, a revisit to the Penrice estate has to be worth a shout, plus there's still the mythical Leptodon to refind (if that's where it was!).

Leucodon sciuroides