Rhiw Forgan

The Alun Valley area is the gift that keeps on giving...

Yesterday we walked to the top of Rhiw Forgan to see the fire service operating a robo-cutter on a large area of dense gorse and Molinia. I'd not been to this part of the site before, and an area of limestone outcrops and short calcareous grassland (SS893761) immediately grabbed my attention. It certainly didn't disappoint, with large patches of Entodon concinnus and Thuidium assimile, and not far away numerous small patches of Racomitrium canescens. I checked the latter two species under the microscope and both look pretty convincing.

 

 

 

 

It turns out that CCW also recorded T. assimile from this same habitat patch (in 1995), but it is a new subsite for Entodon and a new site for R. canescens (though Sam has recorded it in the adjacent tetrad to the west, at Merthyr Mawr).

What other goodies await at this site? There must be plenty.

another little look at Cefn Bryn

I spent an hour and a half on Cefn Bryn in the rain on Saturday and recorded 53 species in an area of flushed ground to the north of Arthur's Stone.  Kurzia pauciflora was more frequent here than I've seen elsewhere on Gower, typically growing through mounds of Sphagnum papillosum. Amongst eight Sphagnum, tenellum was the only species of any note.

Kurzia pauciflora

I only came across one base-enriched flush, where there were small quantities of Palustriella falcata and Sarmentypnum exannulatum mixed in the short turf, which held frequent Campylium stellatum and Scorpidium cossonii.

Scorpidium cossonii

Grimmia trichophylla & Racomitrium heterostichum were present on several of the rocks in the area, surprisingly this being the first time the latter has been recorded on the Gower peninsula.

Racomitrium heterostichum

Racomitrium heterostichum

Racomitrium heterostichum mid-leaf section

Grimmia trichophylla

The Gloucestershire Bryophyte group at Llangattock

The Glos bryology group arranged an out-of-county day at the eastern end of Llangattock this year, to give us a bit of a change from the usual neutral / calcareous woodlands and grasslands of our own county. 7 of us turned up at the quarry car park on a chilly Sunday morning in March, to explore the conical spoil heaps, fallen boulders and quarry walls of the area. We didn’t get very far (as usual!), but still managed to record 97 species for the square SO2015.

Highlights of the day were Racomitrium canescens on the grassland at SO20241554, and Bryum elegans on a fallen boulder at the base of the quarry (SO20491535). Both are new species for VC 42.

Racomitrium canescens

Bryum elegans in situ

Bryum elegans: Note reflexed hair-points and border of long narrow cells

We spotted some lovely patches of Sanionia uncinata sheltered within the walls of an old building and scattered throughout the grass on the spoil heaps above.

The Climacium dendroides was looking particularly photogenic and I just couldn’t resist...

We saw Philonotis calcarea, new to many of us, and Sharon Pilkington unintentionally collected Philonotis arnelli in amongst another specimen. Sharon also spotted Distichium inclinatum on the outside wall of the derelict building – there were old capsules which were clearly inclined, and new ones coming which I will go back and photograph if I get a chance.

Further to the west, David Hawkins found Calliergon cordifolium in shallow pools on the quarry bottom, but sadly the inevitable rain arrived about then, so we have no photos.

Finally, not to forget the liverworts, some beautiful Ptilidium ciliare on rocks amongst the grassland to the west of the spoil heaps:

And Tritomaria quinquedentata on the spoil heaps amongst the grass and other bryophytes:

All in all, we had a fantastic day and are planning a return trip soon for those who couldn’t make the first visit.

Damp bryo birthday bash

I took the day off work on Tuesday with the intention of a birthday bryo outing to the hills, but the morning rain put me off attempting anything at altitude. So it turned into a woodland day instead - less extreme but thoroughly enjoyable.

I started with a trip to see the Lepidozia cupressina colony at Caerphilly Mountain (found by Peter Sturgess in 2015). It was much easier to find than on our frosty visit in January 2016, though I only found patches of it on three stones (Bazzania trilobata was much more extensive).

 

After that I nipped up to Nant Gelliwion Woodland SSSI on the edge of Pontypridd, where we only scratched the surface during a fungus group foray in September. The site held records of 18 common bryo species, mostly from past CCW surveys, but had clearly never been properly explored.

I spent a couple of hours exploring the stream and the north-facing slope of the woodland, which produced a few species of local significance including two which I think are new for ST08. The best of these was Metzgeria conjugata, which occupied the downstream side of a stream boulder (outlined in photo below). Also of note was Heterocladium heteropterum var flaccidum.

A few other often sterile species were seen with capsules, including Tetraphis pellucida, Homalia trichomanoides and a large, dark green form of Ctenidium molluscum (photos below).

 

Many of the decorticated logs in the wood were covered in Nowellia and one had a couple of patches of Riccardia palmata. A more recently fallen tree held some Frullania tamarisci.

I also have some hair-pointless Racomitrium on which to attempt a nerve section - given the streamside location I'm hoping this might be R. affine.

70 taxa were recorded within the wood; another visit to explore the other side of the valley would surely add more. Additional exploration along the lanes and in the conifer plantation elsewhere in ST08P would probably take this tetrad to a very respectable species total.

An odd place for a Racomitrium

On a previous visit to my parents' house in Kendal (VC69) I took a sample of an odd-looking moss from a wooden fence which borders a park opposite their garden (50m asl). Some time later I checked it microscopically and was surprised to find it was a Racomitrium, but was unable to confirm which species and hadn't taken a photo of it in situ.

Last week I was back in Kendal and had another look - the moss was still there; in fact there were two patches growing a few metres apart. Judging by the sprawling growth I think it must be R. fasciculare. I can't find any references to this species growing on wood. Has anyone else seen it in similar situations?

 

End of year square-bash at Rhosaman

An afternoon square-bash in SN71G took the square total from 5 to 83. I spent most time searching an area of colliery spoil which produced 63 species directly on spoil; nothing exciting, those of general interest included Aneura pinguis, Archidium alternifolium, Aulacomnium palustre (unusually plants were scattered over a steep dry bank with a broken sward), Calliergonella lindbergii, Gymnostomum aeruginosum, Racomitrium ericoides, R. fasciculare, R. lanuginosum, Riccardia multifida, Sciuro-hypnum plumosum (surprisingly frequent on shaley ground). Despite a decent return I was disappointed not to find any Ptilidium, nor any Weissia or Fossombronia spp. to name but a few I was anticipating.  I didn’t have time to walk the wooded banks of the Aman, which could well have taken the square total over 100 ... another day perhaps!  I did manage to take a very quick look in the river by the footbridge, where Hygrohypnum ochraceum covered the larger rocks along with a little Marchantia polymorpha subsp. polymorpha. This may have been my last bryophyte outing in what’s been another very enjoyable year of recording. Best wishes to all for the year ahead...

PS. If anyone can put a name to the brown lichen I’d be interested to know.

 Racomitrium ericoides-Cladonia portentosa spoil community

  Sciuro-hypnum plumosum 

  Aulacomnium palustre

  Lophozia ventricosa 

  unidentified lichen

 Hygrohypnum ochraceum

Tremadog rocks

An evening walk after bog surveying near Porthmadog finally gave me the chance to explore the amazing cliffs and hanging woodlands above Tremadog.  I only scratched the surface of this extensive area, and I'm sure there's plenty more to be found.  Most of the time I was up on the open, sunny clifftop rocks, where Campylopus pilifer and Hedwigia integrifolia were surprisingly common.  The former grows in dense cushions in rock crevices and its thick shoots are reassuringly different to the common C. introflexus, whilst the latter sprawls on sunny rocks and its lack of hairpoints is immediately different to H. stellata.

One area held extensive patches of a sprawling Racomitrium with very short hairpoints.  This was growing close to typical, hoary R. heterostichum and looked incredibly different, yet they are treated as a single species in the Census Catalogue!  Also nearby was muticous (pointless) R. obtusum, which is again treated as part of R. heterostichum in Britain.  The short-pointed, narrow-leaved plant is Racomitrium obtusifolium f. trichophorum, which I discussed in The Mosses and Liverworts of Pembrokeshire.  I have now found it in several places on coastal tors in Wales, from Pembrokeshire to Harlech and Tremadog, but never inland.  There seems to be a pattern developing in records of this distinctive-looking moss...

A scramble down into the upper part of the woodland above the Hospital revealed abundant Frullania fragilifolia and Plagiochila bifaria as well as some Marchesinia mackaii.  A large lichen on a boulder may well be the uncommon Cetrelia olivetorum, which may well be new for the site (already known to hold a good example of The Lobarion).  There are still vast explored and potentially bryophyte-rich habitat in the Tremadog area, as well as past generations' rarities to be rediscovered (some localities were kept secret and subsequently slipped out of bryologists' knowledge).  Oh to return!

Mining for moss

Visits to three Ceredigion lead mines last Friday produced several nice things.  I'll start with 3 showy species: Racomitrium elongatum, Tetraplodon mnioides and Hedwigia stellata.  The Racomitrium is pretty frequent in the Cambrian Mountains and its long reflexed hairpoints are a good pointer (before microscope checking).  Tetraplodon is present on most Mid Wales mines, where it grows on scats and bones.  Hedwigia stellata is surprisingly sparsely distributed in Ceredigion, and the two tufts I saw were on tarmac - the first time I've seen it on this substrate.

 

Prize for smallest and grottiest goes to Ditrichum plumbicola and D. lineare.  The two colonies of D. plumbicola were both "new" - the 15th & 16th sites for this species in Mid Wales - in part because nobody had specifically looked for it on those sites.  The D. lineare was also "new", and was unusual because it's generally found on natural sites in Wales rather than on mines.  Ditrichum plumbicola has blunt-tipped leaves and plane margins, whereas the D. lineare has acute tips and slightly recurved margins.

 

Prize for rarest may go to D. plumbicola, but with a bit of luck I'll be able to confirm that a colony of very toothy Cephaloziella is C. nicholsonii.  This would be only the 5th Welsh locality for this British endemic.  It was growing at the foot of an old wheel pit wall, and it's interesting to note that the first Ceredigion colony was on a wall on Cwmystwyth mine (found by David Holyoak).

I'll add some microscope photos of the Cephaloziella soon.