News | Page 3 of 21 | British Bryological Society

Saving Scotland’s Rainforest

Scotland’s rainforest is one of our most precious habitats. It is as important as tropical rainforest, but even rarer. Yet few people in Scotland know it exists and fewer still know how globally significant it is. The BBS is a partner organisation in the Alliance for Scotland’s Rainforest – a voluntary partnership of more than […]

Events and meeting reports

Find out how to locate reports of past meetings. When a meeting report becomes available, it will be attached to the original event. In the Events system, you can use the Categories to filter events by year or by vice-county, to view all meeting reports for that year / vice-county. This replaces the old system […]

Call for Physcomitrium pyriforme specimens

Researchers in the US have recently contacted the BBS to request help with finding specimens of Physcomitrium pyriforme. For the last 2 years they have been working on a research project on plant genome evolution using this species as a model organism. They have been running a citizen science program called PhyscoHunt, asking for the help […]

Ptychomitrium polyphyllum

New year, new life: close-up of a young capsule of Ptychomitrium polyphyllum (Long-shanked pincushion).

Moss gardening

Where to look for information on growing bryophytes The BBS are occasionally asked for advice on growing bryophytes, whether for a garden, roof, moss sculpture etc. Whilst this topic is not really our subject, we can offer the following suggestions: If you search the Internet you will find a few websites and books dedicated to […]

Mnium stellare

Part of a leaf of Mnium stellare (Starry thyme-moss) under a high power microscope. It is starting to show the blue colouration of the cells, typical of this species when the cells die.

Hypnum imponens

Growing on the ground near Bramshaw in the New Forest. Photographed during the socially distanced Wessex group meeting in October 2020.

Hookeria lucens

Hookeria lucens (Shining Hookeria), on the Gower Peninsula in May 2019. It's always a pleasure to find this moss, often shining out from a shady woodland bank, or a dark crevice in a cliff face.

Physcomitrium sphaericum

Physcomitrium sphaericum (Dwarf Bladder-moss), on the margin of the Talybont Reservoir in the Brecon Beacons, September 2020. Not the best image, but a great find by Sharon Pilkington, involving much searching on hands and knees in the mud and rain!

Chiloscyphus polyanthos

Chiloscyphus polyanthos/pallescens (St Winifrid's Moss), on a rock in a stream in the Brecon Beacons, July 2020. *Not identifiable with certainty without perianths, but the habitat and appearance suggest C. polyanthos in this case.