Sychryd scramble

On the 20th a climb up through the complex of boulders and falls along the Glamorgan side of the Sychryd boosted the totals for SN90D from 90 to 159 and SN90E from 41 to 106. Highlights from the limestone section included scattered colonies of Cololejeunea calcarea (photo 1 below), Neckera crispa (just one small tuft noted), Oxyrrhynchium schleicheri (one small colony), Rhynchostegiella teneriffae (sheets of it above water line, photo 2), Seligeria acutifolia (small amounts at 2 locations, photo 3), S. donniana (only 1 fruiting patch seen,, photo 4), Taxiphyllum wissgrillii (1 patch noted on a small embedded rock) & a little Dermatocarpon miniatum (photo 5).

A couple of logs in the higher acid section of the gorge supported species including Barbilophozia attenuata, Blepharostoma trichophyllum, Cephalozia catenulata (photo 1 below), Dicranodontium denudatum & Riccardia palmata, plus there were a couple of nice patches of Hymenophyllum tunbridgense half way up the valley side.

Of note for the wrong reason was a single 10cm x 10cm patch of Lophocolea semiteres established on the track as you walk down the north side of Dinas Rock.

Earlier in the day on the way up the Neath Valley, three lay-by stops along the A465 all showed that the putative Didymodon australasiae is a well established component of the verge dirt zone along this road. A little Ephemerum minutissimum was also collected and checked under microscope at one of the stops.

Nedd-fechan in pictures 1

Part of a length cliff with lots of, mostly non-fruiting, Seligera (photo 2), though Sam did manage to find a few with capsules [of acutifolia (photo 3) and donniana (photo 4)]. Also there were good patches of Cololejeunea calcarea (photo 5) all along the same face.

Lower down the valley, where the woodland flora reflected more neutral-acidic conditions, there were areas in which Loeskeobryum brevirostre pretty much blanketed every surface on the woodland floor, along with with frequent Rhytidiadelphus triquetrus and a little R. subpinnatus.

Grimmia hartmanii was noted on millstone grit boulders and would appear to be thinly but widely distributed through this section of ravine.

Cefn Bryn springs and flushes

area of basic flush at SS497899, the surrounding area was otherwise acidic

I took Alfie for a short walk around a randomly selected spring head on Cefn Bryn yesterday evening and found Scorpdium cossonii and Philonotis calcarea to be locally frequent is a small flushed area. This is now the third site on the common where I have encountered these two species and I've hardly looked elsewhere. Google aerials show there are many similar looking springs and flushes all around Cefn Bryn; how many have some form basic influence will be interesting to discover. I'm sure in time these two species will prove to be a little more widespread than our records suggest.

Scorpidium cossonii & Campylium stellatum

Scorpidium cossonii & bright green patches of Philonotis calcarea

Distribution of Scorpidium cossonii in Glamorgan

Henrhyd, Mynydd-y-Gwair

The small gulley marks the Glamorgan-Carmarthenshire boundary (see
green line below), with Mynydd-y-Bettws windfarm on the Carms side

This afternoon I spent a good 1½ hours around 320m asl in the little bit of SN61Q that is part of Glamorgan (yellow area above), which proved more fruitful than I was expecting due to a good chunk being base-rich. My highlight was a 60m² patch of Philonotis calcarea (the red patch), the most prominent associates including Palustriella falcata¸ Anagallis tenella and Campylium stellatum. Also there were some lovely wefts of Archidium alternifolium on the adjacent heath growing along with species such as Scorpidium revolvens, Scapania irrigua, Riccardia chamedryfolia, Aneura pinguis and Didymodon fallax.

Philonotis calcarea

Scorpidium revolvens

Archidium alternifolium