Riccia crystallina spotted by Sharon Pilkington whilst surveying along the Fal Estuary in Cornwall recently. It was growing on Turnaware Point, one of the places used to board troops for the D-day landings in 1944 and now owned by the National Trust. Although it’s quite remote, the area gets quite a few visitors by foot, boat and bike, and there were thousands of rosettes growing in grassland charred from multiple campfires and BBQs.
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BBS member Becky Cross lives on the Isle of Skye and is keen to set up a local bryophyte group to loosely cover north-west Scotland. If you are interested in joining, please contact Becky via email: rcross21@outlook.com
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Brachythecium salebrosum (Smooth-stalked Feather-moss) is one of a few similar (and sometimes tricky) Brachytheciums with long, triangular leaves and fine tips. Jonathan Sleath has nicely captured the long, gradually tapered, plicate leaves in this specimen from Micheldever Wood in Hampshire.
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A couple of sharp-eyed members have alerted us to a program airing on BBC4 on Wednesday 1st February at 9pm local time. The Magical World of Moss: Documentary that explores the vital role that mosses played in the earth’s evolution and how science is only beginning to unlock the secrets and potential of these amazing […]
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Has more stubble been left to overwinter than usual this year? Farmland birds certainly benefit, but so do some of its lesser-known inhabitants, the arable bryophytes. Get out there now to check them out….
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Aneura mirabilis (Ghostwort) found by Andrew Branson on December 20th 2022, new to VC5 (South Somerset). It was found in the Blackdown Hills in an open scrubby area with much Sphagnum palustre, S. fimbriatum and S. auriculatum. This small plant was growing under a S. palustre hummock near the base of a Downy Birch.
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The Photo competition is now closed for entries, but please check back to vote (available from 2nd July).
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Globally rare temperate rainforest is one of Britain and Ireland’s most important habitats. Also known as Atlantic woodland, it is home to very special and often rare species of bryophyte and lichen. Rainforest in south-west England tends to be less wet and somewhat warmer than its counterparts in Scotland, Wales and Ireland, and it is important […]
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BBS member Hamlyn Jones is developing multi-access keys for Bryophytes using the Field Studies Council Identikit toolkit. He has produced trial versions of a key to Mosses (excluding Sphagna) and a key to Sphagna, and would be interested in feedback from members.
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This month's image just demonstrates the beauty of ordinary mosses, for those who are willing to look and see. Here we have immature capsules of the extremely common Bryum dichotomum (Bicoloured Bryum), taken towards the end of the day as the light was beginning to fade. Normally recognised by its abundant bulbils, B. dichotomum also often has capsules which are pendulous, relatively short and fat, and often have a mamillate lid like these.
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