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.
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| isolated small crag supporting the species shown below |
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| Ptilidium ciliare |
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| Barbilophozia floerkei |
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| Cynodontium bruntonii |
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| rather mudane, rank Molinia-Eriophorum vaginatum on top of the hill |
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attractive, but very species-poor dry heath with co-doinant
Vaccinium myrtillus -Pleurozium schreberi slopes |
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| view to west, looking across to the more interesting Craig y Llyn |
