Odd Lophocolea in Monmouth

I stopped briefly in Monmouth this morning to check some roadside fungi (just a Tricholoma sp.) I had noticed, and then grabbed a bit of the Lophocolea growing below the fungus. It looked consistently small and I had hopes of L. bispinosa, but a check with the lens revealed that many leaves were 3- or even 4-dentate. I brought a bit home, and the microscope revealed the plants were abundantly male but that the 3-/4-dentate leaves continued a good distance up the stem from any obvious male bracts. The non-decurrent insertion line ruled out L. bispinosa, whilst the overall appearance and strong smell excluded L. brookwoodiana.  I have concluded it's just an odd form of L. bidentata, but have kept the specimen just in case.

Brown moss confusion

An hour and half looking at Sphagnum on Cefn Bryn yesterday afternoon turned up no surprises on the bog-moss front, with squarrosum being the most interesting of the nine species noted (new for SS49) records indicating that this is a localised species on the Gower peninsula. Best of the incidentals were a few small patches of Lophozia incisa on streamside peat, plus a small basic flush with frequent Philonotis calcarea which held a confusing mix of brown mosses that I am still trying to fathom. There is definitely Sarmentypnum exannulatum and Scorpidium cossonii, but there is also either Palustriella falcata or Hamatocaulis vernicosus, or as I suspect both!  I’ll have a closer look again at my specimens when I get a chance, but here are a photos of a few shoots I looked at last night. The sward was heavily poached and there were no decent stands of anything, making an intriguing puzzle of poorly grown plants.

Here are some images of shoots what looked like, and keyed out, as vernicosus. Nice broad shoots, though the leaf bases were't especially red on any of the material I collected (just a small sample). None of the leaves had differentiated alar cells and most were obviously pleated when wet, though not as strongly as in falcata. Costa weak beyond mid-point, ending at around 2/3.

These last two images were from another sample at the same location, the leaves being more strongly pleated and with differentiated alar cells. Though I could not detect and small leafy outgrowths on the stem during a quick search, I'm suspecting this might be falcata - one for later...

Thoughts on any of the above welcome.

The non-bryological highlight was a lovely clump of Clavulinopsis fusiformis [thanks for the ID Sam] in U3 Agrostis curtisii grassland on the ridge of Cefn Bryn.

Clyne Common walkabout

I've started looking at Sphagnum a bit more critically the odd occasions I have managed to get out recently. During an opportunistic stroll over a small part of Clyne Common yesterday I walked a 300m section of M29 soakway and came across a short section that held a few patches of S. squarrosum and S. angustifolium (photos below), the latter a species not previously recorded in Gower. In addition to abundant Hypericum elodes and Potamogeton polygoyfolius, associates included Warnstorfia exannulata and Straminergon stramineum.

As with last weeks S. teres, it is surprising how localised these more interesting patches of vegetation can be. Much of the area I walked yesterday supported Molinia/wet heath vegetation, the most prominent Sphagna here being denticulatum and papillosum with occasional S. subnitens, the wetter runnels holding locally abundant S. denticulatum, S. inundatum and S. fimbriatum, with S. fallax being rather scarce. One area with evidence of base flushing, i.e. with plenty of Anagallus tenella and Campylium stellatum, looked promising, but other than an increase in S. subnitens held no surprises. I periodically check samples of S. palustre, as I know papillosum can be a surprisingly good pretender and sure enough the Clyne material I'd jotted down as palustre proved to be papillosum. I wonder how may errors there might be amongst some of my casual recording efforts, though I do try and check samples as often as I can. NB Last weeks Fairwood collection was checked and was real palustre.

I've still not yet encountered S. contortum or S. flexuosum in Glamorgan. Hopefully they will reveal themselves in Gower before resorting to visit to Pant-y-sais, where Sam has recorded both. The other South Wales Sphagnum I'd like to see is girgensohnii, so a winter trip to an adjacent county may soon be on the cards.

Rigid Bog-moss on Fairwood Common

An M5-M21b mosaic on Fairwood Common held some good patches of Sphagnum teres (above & first below), which were frequent throughout a 1500sqm area. Carex rostrata was a constant in the areas where S. teres was prominent, the other main species of Sphagnum present being palustre (lots amongst marginal scrub - bottom photo), subnitens and papillosum. Plagiomnium ellipticum (photo below) was also found in the same area growing in quite luxuriant wefts along with P. undulatum and between mini-mounds of Campylium stellatum.  A little Cirriphyllum piliferum was unexpected and both ‘normal’ and ‘giant’ forms of Aneura pinguis were present. Some nice quality vascular plants were also present including Comarum palustre, Genista anglica, Menyanthes trifoliata, Narthecium ossifragum, Succisa pratensis and Vaccinium oxycoccos, though only the latter two species in good quantity.

Puzzling Philonotis

I collected this somewhat nondescript Philonotis earlier in the week, during a visit to Pengwern Common, hoping that it might be caespitosa. Unfortunately it did not key out cleanly as anything, though the highly unlikely P. marchica came very close. So another one I'd welcome a second opinion of in the first instance. The presence of obvious distal papillae on the outer part of the leaf is more a feature of arnellii, though the leaves are not narrow or attenuated enough for that species. Perhaps more significant was the presence of axillary ovate bulbils on many shoots, this being a feature of marchica, with arnellii producing flagelliform axillary bulbils.

On a separate note it was good to record Leucobryum glaucum at several points across the site, this being a surprisingly localised species in Gower. I suspect it does not cope well with regular burning?

Holiday Bryophytes - lots of leskeas

Alpine habitat, La Tofane

We were in the Dolomites in July this year, our third visit to this fabulous mountain range in Northern Italy. Most of our attention was paid to the spectacular alpine flowering plants but we did note a few bryophytes.
 The subalpine forests have an extraordinary abundance of Rhytidiadelphus triquetrus and Hylocomium splendens (and lots of orchids, including Lady's Slipper) in stark contrast to our local, acidic Sitka forests with their abundant carpets of Rhytidiadelphus loreus. 

Rhytidiadephus triquetrus and Hylocomium splendens in spruce forest near Cortina

The geology is predominantly limestone and lots of typical calcicole bryophytes are represented plus some really nice mountain species that are rare in Britain. In the province of Belluno, between Cortina D'Ampezzo and the Falzarego Pass, some excellent trails took us above tree-line into alpine tundra where there were wallcreeper.  In the rocky tundra below La Tofane Ptychodium plicatum (Plaited Leskea) was growing with Saxifraga oppositifolia (Purple Saxifrage) on some sheltered limestone boulders. 

Ptychodium plicatum and Saxifraga oppositifolia, la Tofane

H and Mark on Wallcreeper twitch above Falzarego Pass

On a hike to the Rifugio Locatelli from the famous Tre Cime di Lavaredo we encountered small parties of snow finches flitting about rocks covered with Pseudoleskea incurvata.  Later, in the mountains above Selva in the Val Gardena we found some Pseudoleskea patens (Patent Leskea) which gave us a good opportunity to compare these very similar species. In the end we had to bring samples home to examine the shape of the mid-leaf cells to confirm their identities.

Pseudoleskea incurvata with Salix herbacea (Dwarf Willow) near Rifugio Lavaredo

Pseudoleskea patens, Selva

The short walk to Baita Monzoni in the Val San Nicolo near Pozza di Fassa follows a forest road through a moist, mossy subalpine forest. Bartramia halleriana (Haller's Apple-moss) and Campyllophyllum halleri (Haller's Feather-moss) were on the base rich rocks here - the latter is a Red DataBook moss in the UK. Nearby on a large limestone boulder at the side of the road we noted a large, striking mat of Pterigynandrum filiforme (Capillary Wing-moss). From Monzoni the trail climbs up, eventually, to the Pas de la Sele and allows access to an outstanding alpine flora which includes lots of saxifrages (e.g. the endemic Saxifraga depressa) and other nice things like Papaver rhaeticum (Alpine Poppy), Phyteuma sieberi (Sieber's Rampion), Primula glutinosa (Sticky Primrose) and Ranunculus glacialis (Glacier Crowfoot).

Bartramia halleriana near Baita Monzoni

Bartramia halleriana with capsules

Campylophyllum halleri near Baita Monzoni

Pterigynandrum filiforme on a boulder near Baita Monzoni

Pterigynandrum filiforme Baita Monzoni

On a trip to Sottogudo we walked along a narrow road through a spectacular gorge where  Orthothecium rufescens (Red Leskea) was hanging from dripping limestone outcrops. There were some nice clumps of Selaginella helvetica here too. 

Orthothecium rufescens, Sottogudo Gorge

Orthothecium rufescens, Sottogudo Gorge

Selaginella helvetica, Sottogudo Gorge

Although the landscape of the Dolomites is dominated by limestone there are some extensive cliffs and outcrops of more acidic igneous rock which support a different flora, e.g. on and around Forcia Neigra near Alba. Our attention was stolen by some nice cushions of Eritrichium nanum (King-or-the-Alps) but we also noticed some conspicuous dark cushions of Grimmia montana (Sun Grimmia).

Grimmia montana, Forcia Neigra

Interesting Thamnobryum on Ramsey Island

During a boat trip round the island as a birthday treat for Sandra yesterday, we were taken into a small sea cave at the north of the island called Ogof Penclawdd, which had some dripping cliffs supporting a substantial growth of bryophytes. The cave must be drippy all year round I suspect given the prolonged drought we've had? Martin, the skipper surprisingly, but very kindly agreed to take up my request to see if there was any chance of grabbing a sample and with our guide Nia at the bow, they expertly procured a small sample to satisfy my curiosity.

Even without a lens to hand I could see it wasn't what I was very optimistically hoping it might be, Cyclodictyon laetevirens. Nevertheless it didn't look that familiar either, the complanate leaf arrangement being reminiscent of Platyhypnidium riparioides, so it was packaged in some cheese pasty wrapping generously donated by a group of teenagers.

Today under the miscroscope, the leaves were clearly Thamnobryum-like and being so complanate, maderense was foremost in my mind. Th. maderense is said to have 4-ranked rather than 8-ranked leaves, but the character isn't always that well defined according to some of the scant information I;ve managed to find online. Certainly some leaves look four-ranked and the plants bear little resemblance to the tree-like plants of typical alopecurum, the shoots being short and closely appressed to the substrate, so any comments/thoughts welcome as always.

A final word of thanks to Martin and Nia of Thousand Islands Expeditions for a great trip and for humouring me. Riding 'The Bitches' in Ramsey Sound was my highlight; even in calm conditions it was quite an experience, so I can't imagine what it must be like with a big tide and in a big sea?