Mellte Valley Photo-trip

 I didn't have a good photograph of Solenostoma sphaerocarpum, so yesterday afternoon H and I went to see the nice little colony that Barry found in the Mellte Valley a few days ago.

 Solenostoma sphaerocarpa, Mellte Valley

 The winged perianth with a short beak, and the circular leaves, are distinctive.

Further up the valley we caught up with the Dicranum montanum that I remember from the Mellte trip led by Sam a few years ago. I didn't get a chance to photograph it then, so it was nice to get it again on a few trees near the trail.

Dicranum montanum, Mellte Valley

Some of you will also remember the remarkable riverside site nearby with both Tunbridge and Wilson's Filmy-fern growing within feet of each other.

Hymenophyllum tunbrigense, Mellte Valley

Hymenophyllum wilsonii, Mellte Valley

Have camera, will travel

A couple of bryo-twitches in the last few days enabled me to tick and learn three of my target species for 2018; Campylopus subulatus and Sphenolobopsis pearsonii on Friday and Seligeria campylopoda today. The Sphenolobopsis site on the Hepste below Sgwd-yr-Eira was really quite spectacular, especially after the recent rains. The population seemed quite healthy based on Graham and Sam's site report and I couldn't help wondering if some of the dark patches on some of the inaccessible cliffs might also support this species.

As per Sam's comment in the previous post  by Charles, the Campylopus subulatus site at Pontneddfechan is very different to the forest track sites. In addition to the Campylopus, there was a surprisingly rich assemblage of associates growing in the gritty deposits of the huge rock mass in the river (which presumably floods or is sprayed in full spate). These included Anomobryum julaceum (photo below), Blepharostoma trichophyllum and Lophozia excisa, though the latter looked a bit different to material I've seen previously, so I've attached a photo for comment in case I've made a mistake. Some male bracts with developing antheridia were evident, so I presume these are just sexually ripening shoots.

Today's pit-stop in the Wye for Seligeria campylopoda, at the site suggested by Sam last year, was frustrated by the fact that I'd remembered my camera, but I'd forgotten my hand-lens! Thankfully the unripe curved setae were easily visible and every one of the half dozen rocks I looked at held the moss in variable abundance. The record shot I took of the site shows there is now a lot more brash at this location, though not at a level likely to affect the Seligeria.

Another new species for me (if verified), growing on the same shaley dripping cliff on the Mellte where Bartramia ithyphylla is known, was what I'm pretty sure is Solenostoma sphaerocarpum (voucher retained). Paroicous with spherical perianths (one visible in image below) and bright green rounded leaves are some of the characters which point to this species. Features under the microscopic all conformed nicely too.

Solenostoma struggle

When I saw this I assumed it was gracillimum, but it seemed to lack thickened leaf margins and attenuated shoots and just looked a bit different, so I collected a bit to check. Using Paton it tenuously keyed out as hyalinum - I'm not sure how convincing the bracts on the perianth are as a feature as gracillimum can show this to a degree it seems, but the presence of purple rhizoids is said to rule it out. I'm not terribly convinced this is hyalinum but as it would be new for the county I'd be grateful for any comments.

The habitat was the north-facing retaining wall (slag & sandstone) along the railway in the north of Swansea at Llwynbrwydrau (SS70039752). Most patches were growing on their own, but occasional associates included Pohlia nutans, Ceratodon purpureus, Cephaloziella stellulifera (photo below), Brachytheciastrum velutinum & Bryum sp. There must be a substantial population as I suspect this wall extends a long way east and west. This was a sneaky quick peak at a 5m section by my crossing point and it begs the question could the railway sections using slag be a potential habitat for Scopelophila?

River Clydach, Rhos

I spent about an hour this afternoon recording along this river, which from aerials looked to be the best habitat in SN70L. A small colony of Solenostoma paroicum with capsules was the only real highlight, otherwise there was nothing overly special, but I managed to boost the square total of 52 up to 91 taxa, the best of the rest including Heterocladium heteropterum var. heteropterum, Lejeunea patens, Marsupella emarginata var. emarginata, Nowellia curvifolia, Orthodontium lineare & Trichostomum tenuirostre.

Aberdulais Jungermannia query

Here are a couple of pics of the non-fruiting Jungermannia from the drippy cliff at Aberdualis – the assemblage included Tha.alo., Fis.osm., Pel.end., Cra.fil., Gym.aer., etc. so with some basic influence. I’m not expecting a definitive outcome but the purplish rhizoids and cell measurements [leaf cell width (n=10) 39.5µm & cortical cell width (n=10) 36.6µm] are suggestive of Solenostoma (J.) paroicum – any thoughts welcome.

SN60I Cwmcerdinen verges

It surprises me sometimes how many species you can find in the most unlikely looking spots. Yesterday I stopped at the cattle grid at the entrance to the village as there was a bit of tarmac and flushed gravel to look at before I headed on to my target of the riparian woodland. In the end I spent nearly an hour in this area where I found a base-rich seepage dominated by Pellia endiviifolia and Dicranella varia as well as a section of verge with species such as Solenostoma gracillimum under a mat of Wahlenbergia hederacea. Plus there was some nice wet heath adjacent to the road with all the commoner Sphagnum spp., etc. On a few occasions recently I've found non-fruiting Fossombronia, which is very frustrating! Hoping to take Alfie for a ‘walk’ in the next tetrad today...

SN63660603 Wahlenbergia verge with 'understory' of
Solenostoma gracillimum

SN63680615 cattle grid seepage with abundant
Pellia endiviifolia and Dicranella varia