White Tip, Merthyr Tydfil

I was passing Merthyr's 'White Tip' yesterday and couldn't resist spending an hour and a bit to look for the Riccia beyrichiana found last winter. I managed to find good numbers of plants between SO03590721 & SO03560723, which although past their best were recognisable (photos 2 & 3). To illustrate the community, the following species were all direct associates recorded within a 50cm quadrat: Aphanes arvensis, Archidium alternifolium, Arenaria serpyllifolia agg., Bryum dichotomum, Cephaloziella divaricata, Cladonia rangiformis, Danthonia decumbens, Erophila majuscula, Festuca ovina, Fragaria vesca, Hieracium agg., Hypnum cupressiforme var. lacunosum, Linum catharticum, Lotus corniculatus, Luzula campestris, Peltigera canina, Pilosella officinarum, Plantago lanceolata, Poa annua, Prunella vulgaris, Pseudocrossidium hornschuchianum, Racomitrium ericoides, Racomitrium lanuginosum, Saxifraga tridactylites, Senecio jacobaea, Streblotrichum convolutum var. convolutum, Taraxacum sp., Thymus polytrichus, Tortella inclinata, Trichodon cylindricus & Trifolium dubium. 

 Additional bryos represented in this odd assemblage, with its muddled mix of calcicoles and calcifuges, included Bryum pallens, Campylium protensum, Didymodon tophaceus, Flexitrichum gracile, Gymnostomum aeruginosum, Lophozia excisa, Pseudocrossidium revolutum (photo 4) & Solenostoma gracillimum. 

However, it was the abundance of Tortella inclinata that was particularly notable at the site (dominant species in photo 1). This is a species that seems to be particularly well adapted to furnace slag (photo 4) and several sites in Glamorgan support huge populations of this Nationally Scarce species. Without question, brownfield sites are a stronghold in our area. It was interesting to see it growing with Racomitrium lanuginosum, both species being locally abundant here.

Back to Cwm Parc and other things

In an effort to get SS99N up to a respectable number, we spent a misty afternoon in the plantation above Cwm Park (RCT) - don't get excited! There's been quite a lot clear felling up there, so it's all in a bit of a mess at the moment. The forest road was disappointing, but some extensive patches of Campylium protensum were interesting and of course some nice patches of ubiquitous Colura. The total for the tetrad now stands at 76 which is probably a fair representation for the area.
Twenty minutes in a small arable patch near Margam Park  (SS88C) was more fun with Riccia glauca (and sorocarpa), Physcomitrium pyriforme, Tortula modica (and truncata), Phascum cuspidatum, Dicranella staphylina, frequent patches of Leptobryum pyriforme and Bryum rubens and lots of the other usual suspects. Because arable land is so rare in NPT, it is a joy to find even a small patch like this. The new total for the tetrad is a disappointing 68, so a bit more work in order there.

Riccia glauca in arable plot near Margam Park

Physcomitrium pyriforme in arable plot near Margam Park

A casual stop at the side of the road at Ynysygerwn, near Aberdulais, yielded a fabulous population of Riccia sorocarpa growing on some bare earth beneath a young Cherry tree.

Riccia sorocarpa, Ynysygerwn

We've spent some time recently trying to nail those little Bryum erythrocarpum agg. specimens that are so common along forest roads. Our data is imperfect but Bryum ruderale seems to be well represented although B. violaceum and B. subapiculatum are also out there.

Scilly exotics

I've enjoyed other recent holiday reports on this blog so I hope you'll indulge me writing another one, from a bit closer to home...

It's a bit of a cliche to say that the Isles of Scilly feel like a world away from mainland Britain, despite being just 28 miles off the end of Cornwall. But after my first visit to the archipelago earlier this month I could hardly disagree with the sentiment. The flora in particular felt very exotic, with the bryophytes being no exception. Many species that are common in South Wales were scarce, as would be expected on a series of small, remote islands. The epiphyte flora in particular seemed impoverished, with most tree trunks being lichen-dominated instead - even Frullania dilatata was somewhat localised. This was adequately compensated for by the plethora of exotic species (liverworts mostly) which are scarce or absent on the mainland, some of which are imports from the Southern Hemisphere and some possibly from the Mediterranean.

The fun started at Lower Moors nature reserve on St Mary's, where I got excited by an extensive yellowy patch of Telaranea murphyae growing by a path to a bird hide (photos below). I thought this liverwort was restricted to Tresco but I later discovered that the population at Lower Moors had been found in 2003. It appears that the taxonomic position of T. murphyae remains somewhat uncertain; it has not been found as a native in the Southern Hemisphere and was described new to science from Tresco, though it may just be a form of T. tetradactyla. A potentially new population was found later in the week by a path near the lifeboat station at Hugh Town (lower photo).

The excitement really started on Tresco, where a flowerbed in the Abbey Gardens was dotted with the lovely rosettes of Riccia crystallina intermingled with numerous Sphaerocarpos plants (photos below). I collected three Sphaerocarpos samples and after a few days incubation each produced mature spores to enable species identification; pleasingly both species were represented with two samples being S. michelii (spore photo bottom left) and one S. texanus (bottom right).

 

Telaranea murphyae was seen in a few locations within the gardens, along with Lophocolea semiteres and L. bispinosa, but was much more abundant along Abbey Drive where extensive yellow sheets of it covered the ground wherever there was shade from trees (upper photos, below). Growing with it was Calyptrochaeta apiculata (lower photos) - in the Britain Isles this Southern Hemisphere species is known only from here and single sites in Sussex and Ireland.

Bulb fields on St Mary's revealed more Sphaerocarpos michelii, Riccia crystallina and a single rosette of Riccia subbifurca (unless it is R. crozalsii - but I don't think so).

Even the small garden of our cottage had a flowerbed with plenty of fruiting Anthoceros punctatus (photo) and a stone covered in Scorpiurium circinatum.

I'm already looking forward to making another visit sometime...

Holiday hepatics

I made a 5 day visit to Andalucía and Extremadura (SW Spain) last week, and photographed a few bryophytes as well as looking at birds, flowers, butterflies etc.  The weather was rather damp, but that meant liverworts were looking great.  I didn't make any real effort to look at bryophytes, let alone collecting them, but it was great to see some rare British species in great abundance.  These included Bartramia stricta (photo), Cheilothela chloropus, Riccia nigrella (photo) and Targionia hypophylla (photo).  I only found Sphaerocarpos sp. (photo) once.

 Three liverworts that are absent from Britain were especially interesting: Riccia bicarinata (photo), R. lamellosa (photo) and the wonderful Oxymitra incrassata (photo).

Things in abundance

Well, apart from Russula ochroleuca, which at the moment is fruiting in thousands in NPT's Sitka forests........

Firstly, Riccia subbifurca along one of the new logging tracks in Pelenna Forest. Where there were a dozen or so rosettes last year, this year there are hundreds,  with 50+ per square metre in places.

Pelenna Forest Logging Track, habitat for Riccia subbifurca

Riccia subbifurca rosettes - a small part of the Pelenna population!

Secondly, large amounts of Usnea articulata on several Japanese Larch trees on the Maes Gwyn opencast site (SN85230854). I guess it's a bit like the Brechfa Forest population. I'm not sure how fast that stuff grows, but it is represented here in small, medium and long sizes with several  individuals > 50cm long, so it doesn't look like a recent colonist. These larches are plastered in epiphytes, including assorted Ulotas which need checking.

Usnea articulata on Japanese Larch, Maes Gwyn

Usnea articulata on Japanese Larch, Maes Gwyn

Spongy liverworts

I can't find my Smith's Liverworts of Britain and Ireland and haven't looked at it since Jean Paton published her Liverwort Flora in 1999 - Jean's book seems to costs over £90 now, but it is worth every single penny.  I am pretty sure that early on in Smith's Riccia key the split is whether your specimen looks spongy or not - back in about 1994 I was sure the first Riccia I had come across in Carmarthenshire was R. sorocarpa, and to me it looked 'spongy' ....... I followed the key and think eventually ended up at R. cavernosa - this was clearly wrong and then it occurred to me that the reference to sponge probably meant natural sponge, which is probably unfamiliar to a lot of people today and was a bit of a rarity even when I was a kid in the 1960's (or perhaps it was expensive and we could only afford artificial sponge - actually we had a loofa which tended to take your skin off if you rubbed too hard!) - the only times I seem to see natural sponge these days is in art supply shops (usually as expensive tiny fragments).

Anyway, whilst at Llangorse Lake last week I glanced down and saw what I first took to be a thick layer of algae amongst open vegetation in the inundation zone (the lake level at Llangorse tends to be a lot higher in winter than in the summer months).   On closer examination the 'algae' turned out to be the largest population I have ever seen of what looked to be  R. cavernosa.   I had it in the back of my mind that Sam had recorded cavernosa at Llangorse when he mapped the marginal vegetation several years ago, but on reading his report he in fact had found R. subbifurca and, if Sam accepts the voucher, cavernosa will be a new addition to the Brecks bryophyte flora.

Pics below are a bit poor, but the close-up shows the large perforations on the surface - a bit like an old fashioned sponge.

Ammanford miscellany in SN61B

A population of Riccia subbifurca along a muddy track near Ammanford was unexpected. There were few other species of note other than Plagiomnium elatum, which was recorded nearby in marshy grassland in association with abundant Valeriana dioica. A pink Bryum, possibly pallens (still to check my specimen), was collected from an area of disturbed wet grassland, Physcomitrium pyriforme being the most frequent associate.

Mynydd Lliw

SN599019, the search restricted to the yellow areas

At just over 40m a.s.l., Mynydd Lliw is hardy mountainous, nor is it very natural, most of the substrate comprising restored colliery spoil. I've done very little bryologising this week, so I took Alfie out for an hour this afternoon to a part of this site I've not been to before - an area that looked interesting on the aerial images. Following today's downpours, the mosses were luxuriant and it turned out that the brown areas on the aerials were concrete bases dominated by a deep cushion of Didymodon ferrugineus, with some patches of cf. D. rigidulus (both species shown together below).

Of the 26 species noted growing on a thin crust of detritus over the concrete, others of interest included - in decreasing abundance - Trichostumum crispulum, Bryoerythrophyllum ferruginascens, Calliergonella lindbergii, Riccia glauca, R. sorocarpa and Tortula modica.