North of Pontardawe

A job in Pontardawe yesterday gave me the opportunity to boost a couple of tetrads (SN70H & SN70I). The sandstone crags in Coedalltacham (SN723048) held small quantities of Amphidium mougeotii and Diphyscium foliosum, but despite looking promising held little else of note in this rather dry hanging oakwood dominated by Luzula sylvactica. The most interesting event at this location was when I took off my right welly to remove a stone, then watching it roll and bounce a couple of times before dropping over a 5m cliff. With plenty Holly and Bramble in the shrub layer, it was a very prickly descent to retrieve it!

The bryoflora along the banks of the nearby stream running through more humid, largely acid oak woodland in Cwm Sion (SN729053) was much more diverse, with frequent Amphidium mougeotii and Saccogyna viticulosa  [photo below] and occasional Fissidens pusillus, Jungermannia pumila, fruiting Pseudotaxiphyllum elegans [photos below] and a small quantity of Trichostomum tenuirostre [couple of small shoots in top photo below]. Wefts of Heterocladium heteropterum were a bit confusing as cell shape (4:1 ratio) fit var. heteropterum, but size was much better for var. flaccidum - any advice welcome. Also I'd be grateful if anyone could let me know what the spiky rudimentary leaves are, which to the naked eye looked like dark reddish fuzz growing on rock, under shaded overhangs [bottom two photos below]? [identified by Sam as Tetrodontium brownianum].

 

Finally a quick stop at a bog on Cefn Gwrhyd (SN725064), which looked interesting with frequent Hypericum elodes, Menyanthes trifoliata and nine species of Sphagnum, produced records of Cladopodiella fluitans and Warnstorfia fluitans [photos below]. A Cephalozia looked interesting but I couldn't make it anything other than bicuspidata.

Pseudotaxiphyllum fruiting?

Another specimen collected from Cefn Mably last weekend was this possible Pseudotaxiphyllum elegans growing on a log. Nothing at all remarkable about that, but there were numerous sporophytes present. Capsules seem to be rarely reported in this species, with two records of fruiting specimens mentioned in the Carms flora and none in the Pembs flora.

There were some deciduous branchlets present and the leaf bases are not decurrent, so I think it must be P. elegans and not a Plagiothecium species - but if anyone disagrees please let me know.

Indoor mosses

I found Pseudotaxiphyllum elegans with ripe capsules in an orchid pot in a friend’s house today. At least I assume this is what it is, as while I don’t think there’s anything else that’s native it could be, there’s always the possibility of it being an alien import? The plants appeared smaller than typical elegans to me plus I couldn’t find any branchlets in the small sample I collected.

Also, last weekend I saw Leptodictyum riparium in fruit and growing well in the indoor water display at Wyevale Garden Centre in Llansamlet.

Species-poor bryophyte habitats #1

You might expect the extensive, near mono-specific stands of Japanese Knotweed in Swansea to be one of the most unpromising bryo habitats...and you’d be right! A 20 minute search yesterday of one such stand, at Gors Avenue Quarry, Cwmbwrla (SS650945) produced just 16 species and failed to challenge this assumption. Not only were there virtually no other vascular plants represented in the field layer, the only niche where bryos were noted was on the very oldest decaying Knotweed root balls and quarry walls, but only where these were raised above ground level on what must be very old plants. For the record the only species noted were Brachythecium rutabulum, Calypogeia arguta, C.fissa, Kindbergia praelonga, Metzgeria furcata, Oxyrrhynchium hians & Pseudotaxiphyllum elegans.

The quarry walls provided a little bit of compensation and additional species noted included Diplophyllum albicans & Nardia scalaris.