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

Brown moss confusion

An hour and half looking at Sphagnum on Cefn Bryn yesterday afternoon turned up no surprises on the bog-moss front, with squarrosum being the most interesting of the nine species noted (new for SS49) records indicating that this is a localised species on the Gower peninsula. Best of the incidentals were a few small patches of Lophozia incisa on streamside peat, plus a small basic flush with frequent Philonotis calcarea which held a confusing mix of brown mosses that I am still trying to fathom. There is definitely Sarmentypnum exannulatum and Scorpidium cossonii, but there is also either Palustriella falcata or Hamatocaulis vernicosus, or as I suspect both!  I’ll have a closer look again at my specimens when I get a chance, but here are a photos of a few shoots I looked at last night. The sward was heavily poached and there were no decent stands of anything, making an intriguing puzzle of poorly grown plants.

Here are some images of shoots what looked like, and keyed out, as vernicosus. Nice broad shoots, though the leaf bases were't especially red on any of the material I collected (just a small sample). None of the leaves had differentiated alar cells and most were obviously pleated when wet, though not as strongly as in falcata. Costa weak beyond mid-point, ending at around 2/3.

These last two images were from another sample at the same location, the leaves being more strongly pleated and with differentiated alar cells. Though I could not detect and small leafy outgrowths on the stem during a quick search, I'm suspecting this might be falcata - one for later...

Thoughts on any of the above welcome.

The non-bryological highlight was a lovely clump of Clavulinopsis fusiformis [thanks for the ID Sam] in U3 Agrostis curtisii grassland on the ridge of Cefn Bryn.

Coal spoil at Penygroes

A total of 60 bryos were recorded growing directly on coal spoil at this development site in Penygroes, vc44. Most interest was focused on the mildly basic 'Cratoneuron filicinum-Bryum pseudotriquetrum' seepages found around the margins of the site, with noteworthy species including Bryoerythrophyllum ferruginascens and Palustriella falcata. Both were rare on site and it's the first time that I have encountered the latter on spoil, the location of the only patch I saw shown below. 

The central plateau was much less interesting, being dominated by Campylopus introflexus and Lotus corniculatus, which together with locally frequent Cladonia spp. formed a distinctive coal spoil community.

Festive Foel Fawr

A Christmas Day spin over Mynydd Du to take in a bit of fresh air included a brief stop by the ultra-basic flushes below Clogau Mawr SN725194. Species of interest included Palustriella falcata, which was dominant over large areas, with plenty cushions of Hymenostylium recurvirostrum hosting a range of other species such as Aneura pinguis, Jungermannia atrovirens and Anagallis tenella.