Interesting Thamnobryum on Ramsey Island

During a boat trip round the island as a birthday treat for Sandra yesterday, we were taken into a small sea cave at the north of the island called Ogof Penclawdd, which had some dripping cliffs supporting a substantial growth of bryophytes. The cave must be drippy all year round I suspect given the prolonged drought we've had? Martin, the skipper surprisingly, but very kindly agreed to take up my request to see if there was any chance of grabbing a sample and with our guide Nia at the bow, they expertly procured a small sample to satisfy my curiosity.

Even without a lens to hand I could see it wasn't what I was very optimistically hoping it might be, Cyclodictyon laetevirens. Nevertheless it didn't look that familiar either, the complanate leaf arrangement being reminiscent of Platyhypnidium riparioides, so it was packaged in some cheese pasty wrapping generously donated by a group of teenagers.

Today under the miscroscope, the leaves were clearly Thamnobryum-like and being so complanate, maderense was foremost in my mind. Th. maderense is said to have 4-ranked rather than 8-ranked leaves, but the character isn't always that well defined according to some of the scant information I;ve managed to find online. Certainly some leaves look four-ranked and the plants bear little resemblance to the tree-like plants of typical alopecurum, the shoots being short and closely appressed to the substrate, so any comments/thoughts welcome as always.

A final word of thanks to Martin and Nia of Thousand Islands Expeditions for a great trip and for humouring me. Riding 'The Bitches' in Ramsey Sound was my highlight; even in calm conditions it was quite an experience, so I can't imagine what it must be like with a big tide and in a big sea?

Kenfig revisited ...

Note the footpath through the scrub around the western margin of the pool is now flooded!

My quest for Petalophyllum at Kenfig continues without success, though I've still not given up hope of refinding it. This is one of a small suite of species that have either disappeared, or are at critically low levels at the site, despite much good work having been done to restore and create favourable habitats. In addition to an apparent absence of Petalophyllum, I've not encountered any populations of the following:
Abietinella abietina - last recorded by Smith in 1963.
Distichium inclinatum - a small amount recorded by Sam in 2012, so possibly still present.
Moerckia flotoviana - last recorded in tiny quantities at two sites by Sam and the SAC monitoring team in 2012. I have looked briefly at these sites but failed to relocate any plants.
Preissia quadrata - the last records were of two tiny colonies noted by Sam in 2012.
Racomitrium canescen - last recorded by Peter Jones in 1984.

Species which would appear to be critically low include:
Leiocolea badensis - still present but highly localised.
Riccardia incurvata - the population found by Sam in 2012 is still present, but appears to have declined markedly.

Thankfully there is some good news and those species species holding their own, or possibly even doing well include:
Amblyodon dealbatus - since its discovery at the site by Sam and Clive Hurford in 2012, at least six sites have now been identified. Last Thursday I came across a new colony with lots of developing capsules (in fact this is the first colony I've found with capsules). I'll be back to photograph it in a few weeks after they ripen and I have marked a couple of patches (white plant label tops in photo), should anyone feel inclined to check it out for themselves [8+ patches (largest 10cm x 6cm) in 2m x 1m area SS7914881233].

Bryum intermedium - first recorded by Sam in 2012 and then by David Holyoak in 2015. Last year I noted plants at David's site with young fruit, which looked good for this species, but unfortunately the site has been destroyed (only temporarily I suppose) by bikers, who are a constant presence in this area.

Campyliadelphus elodes - added to the site list this year.
Drepanocladus sendtneri - locally frequent in a dozen or more slacks.
Pseudocalliergon lycopodioides - frequent in nine or more mature slacks.

To date 157 bryophyte taxa have been recorded at KNNR. Amongst my casual records last Thursday I was surprised to find both Thamnobryum alopecurum (photo) and Brachythecium rivulare were additions to the reserve list, so next time you visit this large site, don't assume it's all been done.

If anyone knows what species of Hypoxylon this is I'd be interested to know (on Salix)

Afon Alun

A visit to Coed-y-bwl to enjoy the Daffodil display provided an opportunity for a little bit of bryologising in this well recorded tetrad. I never saw anything of special note, though it was only the second time I've encountered fruiting Dialytrichia mucronata, which was well-established on Pont Brown. The lane walls were covered in mosses - mostly Thamnobryum alopecurum and Anomodon viticulosus - and a riverside Field Maple was heavily draped with mosses including Neckera pumila. A really lovely mossy site.

Freezing Fun

Icy Thamnobryum by a stream.

The freezing nights between Christmas and New Year weren't exactly ideal for bryology, but at least we didn't get moss-burying carpets of snow!  I spent a day recording in three tetrads south of Trelech in western Carms - SN22T, SN22X and SN22Y - getting 80+ in the first two and ca70 in the third.  This area is typical of the 'dairy zone', but the valleys have footpaths so give up some of their diversity.

Epiphyte highlights were abundant Frullania tamarisci and Neckera pumila, along with Lejeunea cavifolia.
Lane banks supported Marsupella emarginata in two places and one colony of Bryum sauteri, as well as Cirriphyllum piliferum and Rhytidiadelphus triquetrus.
Didymodon nicholsonii grew in abundance on tarmac and there were a few patches of Syntrichia latifolia in one place.
A wooded flush with abundant Golden Saxifrage was locus classicus for large Aneura cf euromaxima/pellioides.
Fissidens celticus, F. curnovii, Heterocladium heteropterum and Hookeria lucens were present near streams, and one river bank held Epipterygium tozeri. 

The dairy plateaux above were dull as ditch water, and even the valleys were hardly riveting, but another three tetrads have been ticked off leaving just 92 unvisited (by me) in Carms.

Aneura cf euromaxima in a wooded flush. 

A poor photo but showing the typical large size and undulate margins.