Hirwaun Common crags

During an unplanned morning outing last Sunday, I ended up on the north-facing sandstone crags at the northern edge of Hirwaun Common, primarily in an attempt to add to the paltry total of 13 taxa for SN90H. As it happened I was slow getting out of Cwar Canwyllyr [Chandelier Quarry] within SN90G, which already had a respectable total of 111, although I was able to add an additional 20 spp. including some nice patches of Bartramia pomiformis, one of my favourite mosses.

Eventually, I did manage just short of an hour in the target square and managed to take the totals up to a not very impressive 65. The only highlights of any note on these dry acid slopes, with very few outcrops in the section I walked, were a few small that supported healthy patches of bryophyte vegetation. These included a few species of local interest such as Cynodontium bruntonii, Barbilophozia floerkei and Ptilidium ciliare.

isolated small crag supporting the species shown below

Ptilidium ciliare

Barbilophozia floerkei

Cynodontium bruntonii

rather mudane, rank Molinia-Eriophorum vaginatum on top of the hill

attractive, but very species-poor dry heath with co-doinant
Vaccinium myrtillus -Pleurozium schreberi slopes

view to west, looking across to the more interesting Craig y Llyn

Mellte bits and pieces

Also seen during yesterday's visit to the valley Plagiochila killarniensis (bifaria) in association with Bartramia pomiformis by the cliff path above Sgwd Clun Gwyn Isaf.

Barbilophozia attenuata and Zygodon rupestris on oak, plus Sanionia uncinata on a log below Sgwd y Pannwr.

Merthyr Common

I had a wonderful day out on the northern bit of Merthyr Common yesterday, exploring the crags and shaly overhangs above the Nant Morlais in SO0709.

 

A box full of samples still  to go through, but highlights so far include Hygrohypnum ochraceum (in the stream), Bartramia pomiformis (abundant along a 30m section of crag), Preissia quardata (single patch only), Scorpidium cossonii (with large Aneura growing through it, see pic), Polytrichastrum alpinum (frequent over a large area) and Palustriella commutata. Evidently, there is a fair bit of base enrichment here.

Preissia quadrata

Scorpidium cossonii and large Aneura

Bartramia pomiformis

Another nice surprise was this small clump of Fir Clubmoss, which I missed when I carried out a botanical survey here for the Merthyr Tydfil SINCs project back in 2007.

Fir Clubmoss

I'll blog again if anything else of interest turns up in the remaining samples.

An itch that needed to be scratched

I've been wanting to have a proper look at Tarren y Gigfran (ST09U), an area of sandstone crags and block screes to the south of Aberfan, for some time - and I finally got the chance yesterday. There were only two previous bryo records from the site: Andreaea rothii ssp. falcata recorded by Wade in 1958, and Racomitrium lanuginosum recorded by me on a casual visit in 2012.

On the way to the crags was a small wooded cwm filled with huge sandstone blocks.

These supported a good range of acidophiles including abundant Scapanea nemorea on some of the blocks.

Sandstone blocks with abundant Scapanea nemorea

To reach the east-facing northern crag I had to cross a large area of block screes, which supported abundant Racomitrium heterostichum, occasional A. rothii ssp. falcata, small patches of Ptilidium ciliare and Scapania gracilis, and a couple of patches of what I think is Polytrichastrum alpinum (see photo below - stems were branched and look good for it, but I suppose I should attempt a leaf section to confirm).

Sandstone blocks and crags beyond

Andreaea rothii ssp. falcata

Ptilidium ciliare

Polytrichastrum alpinum (tbc)

Polytrichastrum alpinum (tbc)

The northern crags showed absolutely no evidence of base enrichment, but a nice range of calcifuge mosses were present including frequent Cynodontium bruntonii and a couple of cushions of Bartramia pomiformis.

Cynodontium bruntonii

Bartramia pomiformis

The itch isn't quite scratched as I didn't have time to look at the southern crag, which is north-east facing and longer than the northern crag. Another time...