Barry in Barry

A walk out to the lighthouse on Barry's west breakwater in yesterday's murky conditions gave the opportunity to make a list of bryophytes on what must be a regularly storm-battered and salt-sprayed pier. Given the exposure, I was pleasantly surprised to record about 25 species, the most unexpected of which turned out to be Didymodon umbrosus, found unusually well-grown near the end of the pier at ST124665. Assuming I have the identification right, this is only the 3rd Glamorgan (4th? Welsh) record, but at what would seem to be a most unlikely location, growing on gritty soil gaps in the stones as shown by the arrow above. Direct associates growing with D. umbrosus, shown in the image below, include D. tophaceus, D. insulanus, Bryum dichotomum plus Amblystegium serpens var. serpens and Trichostomum crispulum were also noted with it in the field.

Note patent leaves bent out from hyaline sheaths with very narrow marginal cells. Also bistratose mid-leaf margins extending to a blunt, flat leaf tip

D. umbrosus & Trichostomum crispulum at same magnification

Adjacent to the breakwater, the tufa cliffs in Jackson Bay ST120666, which extend almost all the way along the east cliff of Nell's Point, held abundant Adiantum capillus-veneris and Eucladium verticilatum. This area looks good for Southbya, but my casual inspections during our walk failed to spot any. I'm not sure how well these cliffs have been searched by Gareth, George or others, but the cliffs would seem worthy of closer inspection should anyone find a bit spare time and they're down that way.

Blackrock Quarry

On Sunday I helped out at a habitat management work party at Blackrock Quarry, just north of the A465 near the Clydach Gorge. I only had time for a quick poke about at the base of the limestone quarry face near where I was working, but I was pleased to see plenty of Gymnostomum viridulum growing on soil in crevices - a new species for me. Under the microscope it was good to see numerous multicellular gemmae in the leaf axils.

In the same habitat, and probably of greater interest, was what I think is one of the bryoparasitic ascomycetes which Sam brought to our attention recently. A single orange apothecium caught my eye among a patch of Trichostomum crispulum (I managed to break it in two during collection - see photo below). Microscopic inspection revealed the spore structure nicely (photos below) but I have failed to key it out satisfactorily using the German website. The apothecium was large by the standards of this group, with a diameter of 5mm. No species are listed on the website as parasitic on Trichostomum, though some use the related Tortella and Weissia.

 

Any thoughts welcome. Also, I'm not sure how best to preserve it for future examination!