Strange new moss

Another new moss for me at Cullaloe - two in January! What's strange about it is that it was Ceratodon purpureus. I didn't even take a photo since it's one of the most common mosses in the country. It was only this morning that I discovered I had no record of it at Cullaloe

186 species for the year, total bryophytes all time up to 86.

New moss! Plagiothecium undulatum

Unexpected this morning when I left the house, but new places are the best bet for new species. A brief wander round the NW corner of the reserve produced several new species for the year and several for the reserve list. Plagiothecium undulatum is a new moss for the list - one more step to the big 100. Also approaching the 100, and hopefully to be broken this year is the fungus list. With luck 2 or 3 will make it onto the list from the contents of my collecting box. Also up were the first Garlic Mustard leaves of the year that I've seen, and a Great Spotted Woodpecker

168, with several unknown fungi, an unknown fern and an unknown vascular plant under investigation.

Also for the second time in the last few days were a number of Common Gulls hanging around the pond

Cross posting bryophyte

A new species for me and for the reserve - found it in a couple of places. Interesting in the field, but even more so under the microscope. Creeping towards 100 bryophytes for CLNR!

Ulota phyllantha

Plagiomnium rostratum

This one was hiding amidst Lophocolea bidentata at the base of the wall in compartment 8

Hygroamblystegium tenax

While the spring dallies, there are still more mosses to add to the Cullaloe list. Further digging around the spillway produces a riparian species in the form of Hygroamblystegium tenax. It lives on the spillway walls where it must sometimes be submerged but mostly not.

Hygroamblystegium tenax, Fountain Feather-moss

BBS Field Guide page

Life in the splash zone

Strongly nerved leaves to the tip

Under the microscope

Lightly toothed margin separates from species fluviatile

Kneiff's Feather-moss

With a record from 1974, this is one I've wanted to catch up with, and it turned out to be one I've eyed with suspicion for a while but not ID'd. Pulled from the rocks in the burn, this dingy moss closes the gap on species recorded but not seen by me at Cullaloe.

Leaves c2mm, margins entire, cells c. 3 times as long as wide, nerved to beyond half way but not to tip

Leptodictyum riparium, Kneiff's Feather-moss

BBS Field Guide page

Weekend roundup

Made a foray into parts of the reserve that I haven't visited in over ten years, including 30 inches of water that I stuck my leg into. It was cold.

Found a new moss on the edge of the pond, Calliergon cordifolium, Heart-leaved Spear-moss, and took some pics of other previously discovered mosses which I had no pictures for (Big and Little Shaggy Moss!).

Lots of signs of vascular plants coming through, with green tips here, there and everywhere.

Calliergon cordifolium, Heart-leaved Spear-moss

BBS Field Guide page

A few more mosses into the mix

Still processing my box of goodies from the 26th, from which there are a few additions today.

First out of the box is Aulacomnium palustre, a tall skinny moss with longish pale green leaves and a whole lot of tomentum on the stem - hand lens not required!

Aulacomnium palustre, Bog Bead-moss

BBS Field Guide page

Catherine's moss added to year list

A species I missed off the list from Sunday, but which I shall now add. One of those moments when you hope nobody was looking as it was originally mis-identified ... this is of course Atrichum undulatum, or Catherine's Moss. The leaves are not only toothed, but doubly so. On a naming note this is a rare occurrence of a moss with two English names, as it's also called Common Smoothcap (a-trichum = hairless).

Aulacomnium androgynum

Cute little guy with gemmae on a stick. Retrieved from the woodland - compartment 6

Aulacomnium androgynum

Bryophyte bonanza!

A recording meeting of bryologists gathered under the cloudy sky yesterday morning to "do" Cullaloe. Species were added thick and fast before we even left the car park area, and when we departed the day total stood at 72 with some packets still to be examined. Adding a list to iRecord from memory this morning I could only remember about 65, which still took the year total to 149. Not bad considering my target for January was 100, and my target for the year for bryophytes was set at a cautious 50. I hadn't factored in the borrowing of several pairs of eyes and some considerable expertise. Just as comforting was the discovery that I hadn't actually horribly misidentified anything thus far!

120    Calypogeia arguta, Notched Pouchwort
121    Frullania dilatata, Dilated Scalewort
122    Lophocolea bidentata, Bifid Crestwort
123    Metzgeria violacea, Blueish Veilwort
124    Pellia endiviifolia, Endive Pellia
125    Scapania undulata, Water Earwort
126    Amblystegium serpens, Creeping Feather-moss
127    Aulacomnium androgynum, Bud-headed Groove-moss
128    Barbula unguiculata, Bird's-claw Beard-moss
129    Bryoerythrophyllum recurvirostrum   
130    Bryum argenteum, Silver-moss
131    Bryum dichotomum, A moss
132    Campylopus introflexus   
133    Didymodon rigidulus, Rigid Beard-moss
134    Didymodon tophaceus, Olive Beard-moss
135    Eurhynchium striatum, Common Striated Feather-moss
136    Fissidens bryoides, Lesser Pocket-moss
137    Homalothecium sericeum, Silky Wall Feather-moss
138    Orthotrichum cupulatum, Hooded Bristle-moss
139    Orthotrichum diaphanum, White-tipped Bristle-moss
140    Oxyrrhynchium hians, Swartz's Feather-moss
141    Racomitrium aciculare, Yellow Fringe-moss
142    Rhynchostegium murale, Wall Feather-moss
143    Rhytidiadelphus loreus, Little Shaggy-moss
144    Rhytidiadelphus triquetrus, Big Shaggy-moss
145    Schistidium crassipilum, Thickpoint Grimmia
146    Sciuro-hypnum populeum, Matted Feather-moss
147    Ulota crispa, Crisped Pincushion
148    Ulota drummondii, Drummond's Pincushion
149    Zygodon viridissimus, Green Yoke-moss

Coverage chart:

Mud-snorkelling mosses

Walked along the ditch in the woodland at lunchtime, turning up some new bryophytes: - Rhizomnium punctatum, Fissidens taxifolia (brand new), Pellia epiphylla  and another I haven't ID'd yet. I spent too long looking at one and almost lost a wellie.

Also overhead were some Pink-footed Geese in "Cullaloe airspace" (which includes everywhere I can see, bu tin this case they really were!)

Fissidens taxifolia, Great Pocket-moss

BBS Field Guide page

Weekend addition - Kindbergia praelonga (AKA Eurhynchium praelongum)

81. Eurhynchium (Kindbergia) praelongum, Common Feather-moss

Species add - Cirriphyllum piliferum to Bryophytes

Found in the grass just as you round the end of the wall beside the path towards the hide

New species add - Racomitrium lanuginosum to Bryophytes

After much deliberation on this one, microscopic checks revealed the cell structure to be unapologetically Racomitrium.

At first I thoughti t was one of the upright ones of the canescens agg., specifically ericoides. It was, ultimately, the Racomitrium cell drawings in Watson that allowed me to get at this one. Otherwise I was getting nowhere fast.

After a review on Google I'm now fairly convinced it's lanuginosum... see this one especially: Link

From the BBS field guide: "Confusion is only likely when you come across poorly grown plants, which may resemble the R. canescens aggregate (p. 540), but R. lanuginosum always has toothed margins to the hair point"

From University of British Columbia (link above), "The leaves are a linear-lanceolate shape. The presence of a broadly decurrent, hyaline awn with strongly dentate margins makes recognition of this species relatively straightforward."   - you think? Now I know, those dentate margins seem to seal the deal. lanuginosum it is,

Racomitrium lanuginosum, Woolly Fringe-moss

New species add - Dicronella heteromalla, Silky Forklet-moss, to Bryophytes

Growing on the base of the pine in cpt 6. Quite a distinctive leaf. Sure I have pictures of these species in situ, which I'll have to track down later. In this species the 3mm of this leaf is almost entirely nerve with just a couple of "wings" at the base.

Dicronella heteromalla, Silky Forklet-moss

New species add - Sanionia uncinata, Sickle-leaved Hook-moss to Bryophytes

Originally Hypnum uncinatum (Hedwig) which looks a pretty decent shout, then Drepanocladus uncinatus even until Watson (1985?), but now the less-easy-to-remember Sanionia uncinatus. Maybe once you know why it's easier to remember, but at least it's distinctive, even if the BBS field guide key is wrong - describes the leaf as circular with a 3mm diameter, when it must mean circumference since the species page says leaf length is 3mm (1 x pi). This matches what I have, so I'm assuming the species page is the correct reading.

Sanionia uncinata, Sickle-leaved Hook-moss

New species add - Tortula Muralis, Wall Screw-moss to Bryophytes

On the wall tops between the road/car park area and the adjacent field

Tortula muralis, Wall Screw-moss

Bryophyte bonanza!

Gone are the days when I could see four new species of bird on the reserve in one day (or year), but yesterday at lunchtime I spent five minutes exploring an out of the way spot - a banking beside the wee pond - and came up with four new bryophytes. Who knows what else is there! The first thing that caught my eye was a banking of Atrichum undulatuim - Catherine's Moss. But as I was taking a sample I spotted an old tree stump which had been colonised by some interesting greenery.

First up was a fat thalloid liverwort which turned out to be Pellia epiphylla. This is a very common liverwort in the UK and our only monoecious one apparently. The "lady parts" (archegonia) are readily visible towards the tips in the large photo, and the male parts are discernible further up on the midrib on closer inspection (see micro photo further down).

Second on the tree stump was a patch of diaphanous Rhizomnium punctatum - Dotted Thyme-moss. Presumably the "dotted" epiphet comes from the male parts, none of which I saw (yet), but I really don't know. I never saw any dots. Just a nice paddle-like leaf with a nerve stretching to not quite the tip and a healthy helping of (untoothed) border.

Lastly, and only noticed at home, was a tiny leafy liverwort clinging to the big thalloid one. I think at the moment that it's Lophocolea heterophylla - Various-leaved Crestwort, but I'm still looking into it.

The double-toothed Atrichum undulatum

Smorgasbord, with Mnium hornum for good measure

Atrichum undulatum - so many teeth the leaf margins can't contain them

Pellia epiphylla - the male parts further up the plant on the midrib

Rhizomnium punctatum - cute pointy bit on the leaf tip (I forgot its proper name for the moment), and the smooth fat-bordered margin