Declining acidophiles

Just before Christmas I spotted three uncommon mosses at Dingestow: Plagiothecium latebricola was new for the area (bryophyte number 242), Bryum moravicum was the 2nd Dingestow record and the first in VC35 since 2008, and Aulacomnium androgynum used to be frequent at Dingestow in 1999/2000 but was last seen in VC35 in 2009.  The Plagiothecium is remarkably small and easily ignored/overlooked, but formed a dense cover over ca. 30 square cm of a huge log.

A thatch moss

A family visit to St Fagans today left the bryologist in me frustrated at the inaccessiblity of the mossy thatch which covers many of the buildings. Even the eves were out of arm's reach, but beneath one building I was lucky enough to find a small fragment of rotten thatch that had fallen from the roof above.

Much to my surprise, this was covered in what I think has to be Bryum moravicum (with just a little B. argenteum for company). Branched, filamentous, slightly papillose brown gemmae were abundant in the lower and mid leaf axils.

B. moravicum isn't mentioned as occurring on thatch in any of my books, though known substrates include rotten wood as well as living bark. My (incomplete) copy of the VC41 database doesn't list any records since 1993, but I'll await Barry's confirmation of its current Glamorgan status.

Update - a few more photos added below. Gemmae were present on several of the shoots, but by no means all of them.