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| A dull brown with 3% KOH applied |
Monday, 9 November 2015
Learning to love the Sphagnales II - S.magellanicum
Another nice big fat species from the Sphagnum section of the genus, but this time with a fatter head and some nice colour
Thursday, 5 November 2015
Pterogonium gracile, Eildon Hills
A nice branched pleurocarp with a very neat leaf distruibution. When dry the leaves fold in to make a tidy imbricate string
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| Branching, maybe 1.5cm long here |
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| Branch tip |
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| Leaf at x60 |
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| Leaf tip |
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| Leaf base |
Wednesday, 4 November 2015
Bryologically important watercourses map
SNH's planning tool with indications as to watercourses which have been surveyed and their importance, and those which have not been surveyed but are potentially important.
http://www.snh.gov.uk/planning-and-development/renewable-energy/hydro/sensitivities/
http://www.snh.gov.uk/planning-and-development/renewable-energy/hydro/sensitivities/
Thursday, 29 October 2015
Learning to love the Sphagnales
Three Sphagna from two sites and three sections gave an opportunity to get out the books and learn to love Sphagnum. Not quite there yet, but they are kind of attractive and they can't be that difficult, can they?
The BBS field guide operates on four groups, which Smith says there could be 11 and Frey says the molecular data supports not more than 4. In terms of field ID though as long as the groupings get you to a species I don't mind arguing about the rest later.
Now I've started to get a feel for them I'll have to seek out some more to play with
S.palustre - section Sphagnum
Hooded branch leaves get you into the section and it's a pretty closed group. It also has a fat stem cortex but you don't necessarily need to see that. S.palustre is a common one and a big blousy affair, with fat branches and of course hooded leaves. This one was picked up in woodland and with pretty catholic tastes this seems like the most likely one to find in that environment. The capiltula is darker than the surrounding branches.
S.capillifolium - section Acutifolia
This section has a rosy pin-red tint (pigment anthocyanin) which is detectable with alkaline. I applied some KOH to the leaves to get a blue reaction here. A slender species with a red stem, S.capillifolium also has the centre of the capitulum a deep red and deeper than its edges. A paler centre sends you in another direction.
S.denticulatum - section Subsecunda
This is the section of bendy branches, and in this case at least a bendy capitulum too. denticulatum is a common bog moss and likes ditches. Once you get into the section by the manifest bendiness of it all (English name "cow horn bog moss"!) this species is separated from its buddies by having particularly pointed (lanceolate) branch leaves.
References
Sphagnum: A Field Guide, Hill, M.O.
Mosses and Liverworts of Britain and Ireland: A Field Guide, Atherton,D.M & Bosanquet,S.D.S.
The Liverworts, Mosses and Ferns of Europe, Frey,W & Frahm,J-P (trans. T.Blockeel)
The Moss Flora of Britain and Ireland, Smith,A. J. E. & Smith,R
The BBS field guide operates on four groups, which Smith says there could be 11 and Frey says the molecular data supports not more than 4. In terms of field ID though as long as the groupings get you to a species I don't mind arguing about the rest later.
Now I've started to get a feel for them I'll have to seek out some more to play with
S.palustre - section Sphagnum
Hooded branch leaves get you into the section and it's a pretty closed group. It also has a fat stem cortex but you don't necessarily need to see that. S.palustre is a common one and a big blousy affair, with fat branches and of course hooded leaves. This one was picked up in woodland and with pretty catholic tastes this seems like the most likely one to find in that environment. The capiltula is darker than the surrounding branches.
S.capillifolium - section Acutifolia
This section has a rosy pin-red tint (pigment anthocyanin) which is detectable with alkaline. I applied some KOH to the leaves to get a blue reaction here. A slender species with a red stem, S.capillifolium also has the centre of the capitulum a deep red and deeper than its edges. A paler centre sends you in another direction.
S.denticulatum - section Subsecunda
This is the section of bendy branches, and in this case at least a bendy capitulum too. denticulatum is a common bog moss and likes ditches. Once you get into the section by the manifest bendiness of it all (English name "cow horn bog moss"!) this species is separated from its buddies by having particularly pointed (lanceolate) branch leaves.
References
Sphagnum: A Field Guide, Hill, M.O.
Mosses and Liverworts of Britain and Ireland: A Field Guide, Atherton,D.M & Bosanquet,S.D.S.
The Liverworts, Mosses and Ferns of Europe, Frey,W & Frahm,J-P (trans. T.Blockeel)
The Moss Flora of Britain and Ireland, Smith,A. J. E. & Smith,R
Monday, 26 October 2015
Eildon Hills, 11th Oct 2015
A good number of people gathered at the foot of the the hills to gradually make the ascent and tick off bryophytes along the way ... and lichens ... and fungi ... and ...
Highlights of the day for me were a couple of new things, only one of which I have bad photographs yet- the lovely wine-red Frullania fragilifolia, or "Spotty Fingers", and the nearby but as-yet-unphotographed Grimmia rammondii, with its dark lines running along a buttressed costa.
With a broad group including notable lichenologists there were always going to be distractions, especially for those of us who are easily distracted. As usual pictures in sections by subject matter
People and place
In the above pic can be seen a large pool and on the left on the same level an interesting flush which contained among other interesting things the calcicole (if I caught that right) Sphagnum subnitens. It also contained some nice insects including Spiny Shieldbug and Hierogplyphic ladybird.
The bryophytes
Not so many bryophyte pics (I was working with my phone since camera packed up), but a nice mosaic and this shaky one of the Frullania can be added to later from my collection box which is awaiting processing. Riccardia multifida was found here and a fair bit of Nardia scalaris tucked in here and there. I remember Barbilophozia hathcheri also showed up at lunch.
Lichens
A lot more going on even in this pic but Ramalina siliquosa was splendid at our lunch spot, where this Sphaeroporus globosus was also found. Lecanora pulicaris was one of many picked from the fence top on the path up
Non-lichenised fungi
Other
A nice bee from the flush pictured above, this is the Field Cuckoo Bee, Bombus campestris
Highlights of the day for me were a couple of new things, only one of which I have bad photographs yet- the lovely wine-red Frullania fragilifolia, or "Spotty Fingers", and the nearby but as-yet-unphotographed Grimmia rammondii, with its dark lines running along a buttressed costa.
With a broad group including notable lichenologists there were always going to be distractions, especially for those of us who are easily distracted. As usual pictures in sections by subject matter
People and place
 |
| A gathered group |
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| The ascent |
In the above pic can be seen a large pool and on the left on the same level an interesting flush which contained among other interesting things the calcicole (if I caught that right) Sphagnum subnitens. It also contained some nice insects including Spiny Shieldbug and Hierogplyphic ladybird.
The bryophytes
Not so many bryophyte pics (I was working with my phone since camera packed up), but a nice mosaic and this shaky one of the Frullania can be added to later from my collection box which is awaiting processing. Riccardia multifida was found here and a fair bit of Nardia scalaris tucked in here and there. I remember Barbilophozia hathcheri also showed up at lunch.
 |
| Frullania fragilifolia |
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| Riccardia multifia |
Lichens
A lot more going on even in this pic but Ramalina siliquosa was splendid at our lunch spot, where this Sphaeroporus globosus was also found. Lecanora pulicaris was one of many picked from the fence top on the path up
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| Ramalina siliquosa |
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| Sphaeroporus globosus |
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| Lecanora pulicaris |
Non-lichenised fungi
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| A puffball whose ID was subject of some discussion |
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| .. and a Cystoderma, probably amianthinum |
Other
A nice bee from the flush pictured above, this is the Field Cuckoo Bee, Bombus campestris
Monday, 28 September 2015
Monday, 24 August 2015
Wanlockhead, 22/08/2015
A small handful of us walked through a grey day, ducking between gold panners (ok there were only 3) along the lead mine route from Wanlockhead. There was a slim chance of Ditrichum plumbicola if we hit lucky on the lead works spoil heaps. In the end that didn't "pan" out, although one lucky couple we bumped into had scooped a couple of flakes of gold for their back pains.
Highlight of the day for me was Leptodontium flexifolium, and the Pellia neesiana was also nice. In addition to the bryophytes there was a remarkable collection of lichens, though putting a name to all of them is far beyond my current capabilities.
Additional linkage
Hybrid Forget-me-not
Leptodontium BBS Field Guide page
The location
The crew
The bryophtes - liverworts
The bryophtes - mosses
The vasculars
The lichens
Highlight of the day for me was Leptodontium flexifolium, and the Pellia neesiana was also nice. In addition to the bryophytes there was a remarkable collection of lichens, though putting a name to all of them is far beyond my current capabilities.
Additional linkage
Hybrid Forget-me-not
Leptodontium BBS Field Guide page
The location
The crew
The bryophtes - liverworts
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| Barbilophozia barbata |
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| Pellia neesiana |
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| Pellia neesiana |
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| Aneura pinguis |
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| Scapania nemoria |
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| Oligotrichum on bare soil bank |
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| Oligotrichum with Nardia |
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| Clamacium dendroides "forest" |
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| Leptodontium flexifolium nestled into a rotting fencepost top |
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| Orthotrichum - tenellum? |
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| Grimmia donniana |
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| Grimmia donniana |
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| Sphagnum (rubellum?) |
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| Warnstorfia exannulata |
The vasculars
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| Parnassia palustris |
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| Hybrid Myosotis x bollandica |
The lichens
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| Rhizocarpon geographicum - "map lichen" |
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| Omphalina umbellifera |
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| Ramalina farinacea (fructose) and Parmelia saxatilis (foliose) |
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| Usnea subfloridana |
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| Stereocaulon dactylophyllum |
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| Lecidea lithophila? (not ID'able in the field |
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| Rhizocarpon reductum |
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