Selar square-bash

SN80W & SN80X needed a few extra records to get them over the 60 mark, so I took an afternoon stroll, wrongly thinking the frost would have largely gone. Unfortunately, the ground and vegetation was still solid, but I eventually managed to push up the totals to 81 and 103 respectively. Although hampered by the frost, the spoil bryos appeared to be pretty limited in the edge area I looked at, Lophocolea bispinosa the only thing of any note. The remnant broad-leaved woodland along the Nant Selar was quite ordinary, though the main water course looked/sounded quite promising from the path above. I haven't ventured into coniferous woodland too often in recent years, so it was nice to experience the luxuriance of the Larch plantations again.

L. bispinosa on spoil

 Sitka vs Larch field layers

 Lots of P. undulatum under Larch

There were a few small falls on the Nant Selar, 

the walls below mostly dominated by Saccogyna viticulosa

Lophocolea bispinosa in RCT

Lophocolea bispinosa, forestry road verge RCT

Lophocolea bispinosa (as above)

Quite a bit of this along a forestry track (SS 9226/9739) in RCT, where there is still significant snow in places. Not new for VC41 (earlier records by Sam and Barry), but new for RCT and a new hectad record (SS99) - I think! Well known to most of you no doubt, but it's a new species for me. In the vicinity, a small colony of Lycopodium clavatum was also spotted by 'my companion'. Willows along the road had the usual common epiphytes, including Colura. Yesterday's recording brings the tetrad (SS99I) to approx. 50 bryophyte spp., but there's more to find I'm sure  Also recorded in this tetrad (but not by us) - Cryptogramma cispa, Dryopteris oreades and Hymenophyllum wilsonii, so it's got some nice stuff.

Today in the Afan Valley Loeskeobryum brevirostre (4th record for NPT) and Didymodon sinuosus were added to the Country Park (Afan Argoed) species list.