Deja vu on the Blorenge

Graham's discovery of Tritomaria exsecta got me wondering what else might be present on the slopes of the Blorenge, so I set out for a couple of hours searching the north-western and northern slopes this afternoon.  I have looked at the upper crags and limestone quarries previously, so stuck to the lower tramroad until I reached Cwm Craf.  Bryophytes were slightly disappointing, to be honest, with just 5 additions to tetrad SO21R (taking the total to 198 taxa), but I was amazed to find some Tritomaria on a small rock among bracken at SO26881266.  I have no idea where Graham was looking, but my rock is definitely different to the one in his photo!  My Tritomaria also seems to be different: many of its gemmae are >15um wide, as are many of its lamina cells, so it appears to be T. exsectiformis new for VC35!!

Like Graham, I was rather distracted by lichens.  Ramalina fraxinea was on a rowan and an ash, and appears to be new for VC35; R. calicaris was on the same ash, and the only previous county record was from Caerleon in 1985; Physcia leptalea was on rowan, and likewise was recorded once in 1985; Usnea articulata was on a hawthorn, representing the 3rd county record; and Usnea cf. fulvoreagans on an old fingerpost appears to be new for eastern Wales.  Sphaerophorus globosus on the same rock as the Tritomaria, and Pseudevernia furfuracea on the same signpost as the Usnea also have very few Monmouthshire records.  In truth, though, Monmouthshire is extremely under-recorded for lichens!

Miscellaneous December mosses (and liverworts!)

Here are a few images of some interesting observations I've not found time to post about over the last few weeks of 2018:

A rubbishy record shot of Campylopus subulatus collected from a forest track at Gwaun Nant-y-bwch during an excursion with Charles on 11th Dec. This is just the third Glamorgan site.

Lopidium concinnum (Hypopterygiaceae) was the most conspicuous of four aliens noted on a Dicksonia antarctica 'trunk' in Swansea's Wyevale on 20th December. Heteroscyphus fissistipus was the only other species I managed to identify. All were recorded as live, although the exposed parts of the Lopidium shoots were dead/bleached.

On the same day I was at Wyevale, I did a quick check of the Kilvey Hill Cephaloziella calyculata colony, but failed to find anything resembling integerrima, the only only other Cephaloziella noted being divaricata. The colony was highly fertile, with male plants (photo) and gemmiferous shoots abundant (photo). Perianth development was, however, uniformly at a very rudimentary stage and well behind those of integerrima seen recently at Crofty. There are still plenty opportunities for exploring unsurveyed areas at this site - i.e. most of it!

The distinctively scented Lophozia bicrenata was found growing with Vezdaea retigera on mine spoil on Cadle Heath Common in Swansea on 21st Dec.

Lophozia ventricosa var. silvicola is occasional on Sphagnum papillosum on Cefn Bryn, 31st Dec. As reported by Sam in the Pembs Bryoflora, it seems this defunct, yet distinctive taxon is the default var. on Sphagnum in our area.

A good quantity of Marchantia polymorpha cf subsp. montivagans "Mountain Liverwort" was encountered mostly 'in stream' in a base-enriched runnel on Cefn Bryn, also on 31st Dec. The large thalli clearly lacked black midribs that characterise subsp. polymorpha, though were darkened a little, as shown by the example below, photographed in natural day light (it was almost dark by the time I got to this spot and to make things worst as I was walking back up the hill I realised I must have dropped my phone in the runnel - fortunately I did manage to find it before the light completely went, sitting amongst Montia in-stream, half soaked, but still working!). I failed to get to grips with the ventral scales of the Marchantia, but I will take another look before sending off a voucher for verification of this potential county first.

Dinas Powys

On Saturday I spent a morning in Dinas Powys, specifically in tetrad ST17K - the last remaining tetrad in ST17 with no bryophyte records. It proved more interesting than expected, with a fair bit of woodland in the north and some attractive limestone outcrops.

Most of the outcrops were smothered in Thamnobryum and Anomodon, but there was a small patch of Conocephalum salebrosum in one area. The best outcrop (ST149719) held Taxiphyllum wissgrillii and a fair bit of Marchesinia mackaii (the first time I've seen it in the Dinas Powys woodlands, and new for ST17). It was growing near an impressive lichen, which Sam has identified as Dermatocarpon miniatum (thanks Sam).

I finished the outing with a quick walk around Dinas Powys Common, which added some open ground species including Microbryum davellianum (spores checked) on a patch of compacted soil. I haven't entered the records yet, but the tetrad list should be up to around 60 species.

Bwlch-y-clawdd (SS9494)

We intended to square bash in SS99N (RCT) only to find that the A4061 above Cwmparc was closed for roadworks - the suggested diversion would have taken ages. We decided to have a look at a small north-facing, sandstone outcrop just off the road and below Mynydd Ton (SS942946).

The scree below the outcrop is populated with large amounts of Racomitrium lanuginosum,  R. fasciculare and Stereocaulon vesuvianum but there are some nice patches of Huperzia selago here too. Much of the Andreaea on the slabs is A. rothii ssp falcata, but there is also a small amount of A.  rupestris.

Huperzia selago and Stereocaulon vesuvianum

Also of interest below the main outcrop is the frequent occurrence of Barbilophozia floerkii and lots of Lophozia ventricosa. We searched for L. sudetica but failed to find any convincing material.

Barbilophozia floerkii

With optimism we climbed up to the outcrop, but the best we could find was a small patch of Hymenophyllum wilsonii, which is frequently present on north-facing sandstone in RCT (and never disappoints). Other stuff included Heterocladium heteropterum, Pohlia nutans and Racomitrium aquaticum. All in all it is a typical, if not spectacular, collection of upland species on a relatively small outcrop which is quite near to a very busy road. You might expect Oreoweisia bruntonii and Bartramia here too, but if they are there they escaped us.

Tony Smith (in A Bryophyte Flora of Glamorgan) describes the Rhondda sandstone outcrops as mostly east-facing and relatively species-poor. I don't know to what extent that has deterred people from exploring these cliffs, but it might explain why species like B. floerkii have been regarded as rare in Glamorgan. In my experience even the small outcrops are worth a look.

What were the chances of that!

On our way back from Hay-on-Wye yesterday, we happened to stop for a cup of tea at the lay-by in the Beacons not far from where Graham reported checking up on the Plagiopus last December. So as I had a pin in my map and I remembered a reference to a Holly, while the others were sipping their tea, I 'shot' up the slope to the only crag I could see that had a Holly tree growing out of it. Sure enough there was plenty Plagiopus doing it's thing nicely, plus good quantities of the lovely green lichen Graham had also posted a photo of. So I grabbed a quick snap, before slipping quickly back down the hill before I got the call saying 'where are you?'  Perhaps it wasn't the greatest coincidence in the world, but I was quite surprised to discover that I'd grabbed a photo of the exact same patch of Solorina saccata as shot (much better) by Graham:

Graham's photo 

and my phone grab shot

plus the Plagiopus of course

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.

Aphanolejeunea in Brechfa Forest

On Friday I spent a few hours revisiting the lichen hotspot in the valley of the Afon Marlais, a few miles upstream of Brechfa, to record some previously unexplored sections of the site.  The lichens were excellent, with 3 spp of Sticta (including really large S. fuliginosa sl), some beautiful patches of Pannaria conoplea (only 4 sites in S Wales), and a few new lichens for the site such as Thelotrema lepadinum and Megalaria pulverea.  I didn't look at bryophytes too much, but couldn't help noticing that many of the riverside Ash trees were plastered with Aphanolejeunea microscopica as well as Colura.


The only previous Carmarthenshire record of Aphanolejeunea came from the Mynydd Mallaen area nearly 15 years ago, and the abundance of Aphanolejeunea along the Afon Marlais was reminiscent of its abundance in the Waterfalls area of the Nedd/Mellte valleys of VC42.  I couldn't find any Drepanolejeunea on Friday, but did see it by a waterfall in a tributary of the Afon Marlais a few years ago.  Earlier last week I revisited Cwm Marydd, where Tritomaria exsecta is still doing well.

Baglan slag

Aloina ambigua was found to be occasional in an area of lichen-bryophyte dominated vegetation on basic slag at Baglan. The main associates were Didymodon fallax, Barbula convoluta var. convoluta, Dicranella varia & Bryum dichotomum. Among the less frequent species were Bryoerythrophyllum ferruginascens, Cladonia pocillum, Galium parisiense, plus an unfamiliar lichen, which I'd be grateful if anyone can suggest a name, or even genus?

After the Rhodies have 'gone'

Following the clearance of blanketing thickets of Rhododendron in parts of Cwmdulais a few years back, I have made a few casual records of what has been recolonising. The only lower plants (which currently provide the bulk of the ground cover) noted in a small sampling area during a casual Christmas Eve stroll, were (in decreasing levels of abundance) Campylopus introflexus, Cladonia chlorophaea agg., Dicranella heteromalla, Hypnum cupressiforme var. cupressiforme, Polytrichum juniperinum, Cladonia coniocraea and Dicranum scoparium. Clearly there is more diversity than this in the valley (see my previous post HERE on this subject), but to date recolonisation of cleared Rhododendron in the valley has been by a rather limited suite of species. Needless to say the Rhododendron is showing good signs of recovery!

A small, mildly basic flush at SN61730358 did provide a point of interest amongst this predominantly acid tolerant vegetation, with species noted (again in decreasing levels of abundance) including Dicranella varia, Riccardia chamedryfolia, Aneura pinguis, Cratoneuron filicinum, Didymodon fallax, Philonotis Fontana, Didymodon tophaceus, Didymodon insulanus, Pellia endiviifolia, Pohlia wahlenbergii var. wahlenbergii, Bryum pseudotriquetrum & Pseudocrossidium hornschuchianum. I'm not sure if this vegetation comprises recent colonists or was hiding beneath the Rhodendrons prior to clearance?

Slagtastic Loughor

After several years of failing to find Scopelophila cataractae in the Swansea Valley, I was filled with great joy today when I came across a lovely population in the Loughor Estuary at Bynea. There were many patches scattered on the two fingers of slag dumped on the saltmarsh, as indicated by the yellow areas shown above (SS558989), the dashed green line showing the Carmarthen Bay and Estuaries SAC boundary. Whilst the bulk of the material I found was technically outside the SAC (i.e. the yellow patches shown 'within' the western finger), it would seem unlikely this narrow bit of ground would ever be interfered with. Although, a small amount of freshly dumped material was noted close to where the two fingers meet, so it may be worth considering notifying the owners.

The main associate was Weissia controversa var. densifolia, with occasional patches of Bryum cf pallescens and some interesting lichens. An odd-looking Pohlia (I'm suspecting it's just young annotina but I will investigate further) was frequent, growing in dense and quite deep cushions with tightly packed appressed leaves. The shoots were noted to fragment very easily, possibly as a means of dispersing? Any thoughts on this one appreciated. [Des Callaghan kindly informed me this is Pohlia nutans fo. gemmiclada]

Finally a photo of a very smart lichen that was growing over (seemingly eating up!) the cushions of Weissia - again any suggestions appreciated: