Glais horse pasture

A few indistinct (primarily acid) flush lines through this tightly grazed pasture provided some local interest, with species noted including Anagallis tenella, Dicranella rufescens, Entosthodon obtusus, Ephemerum serratum, Fossombronia wondraczekii, Pellia neesiana, Pohlia camptotrachela, Scapania irrigua & Wahlenbergia hederacea.

 P. camptotrachela & F. wondraczekii, with a little P. nitidum & E. serratum

 P. camptotrachela

 E. serratum

Rhymney Riverbank revisited

On Friday I returned to the arable field by the Rhymney (ST2282) to collect hornwort samples for Cambridge University Botanic Garden. After bagging up some nice rosettes of both Anthoceros and Phaeoceros, I continued along the riverbank path to an area of woodland (just north of the M4). This resulted in an additional 16 species for the VC41 part of this tetrad (taking the total to 74 taxa), with minor highlights being a 20x10cm patch of Neckera pumila on a riverbank alder and a small patch of Pseudephemerum nitidum on the root plate of a fallen tree (a drier situation than I imagined for this species, see photo).

Back home, I was relieved to finally locate some male organs on the Anthoceros thalli, the dimensions of which confirmed these as A. agrestis.

Afan Forest Park

The larch felling program of the last few years has resulted in a proliferation of new tracks in the Park, where heavy vehicle tires have created habitats for all sorts of earth mosses and liverworts. Dicranella varia is probably one of the most important pioneers in this habitat, but others include infuriating little Bryum spp., Achidium alternifolium, Dicranella schreberiana, Trichodon cylindricus, Pohlia annotina, Pohlia wahlenbergii, Pseudephemerum nitidum, Fossombronia spp. and Riccia subbifurca (now recorded from two separate forest tetrads).

Pseudephemerum nitidum, Afan Forest Park

Fossombronia wondraczeckii, Afan Forest Park

Fossombronia wondraczeckii spores

Riccia subbifurca, Afan Forest Park