Sand Schools

I've done surveys on a couple of Ceredigion manèges over the last week.  I always hope for some interesting bryophytes in such places to contrast with the dull agricultural landscapes that I get to look at on most such pre-development jobs. 

One in Capel Seion was bryophyte covered, but the chipped car-tyres over the sand meant that it was entirely dominated by a few common species like Bryum argenteum and Ceratodon purpureus. At least one plant of the latter had copious axillary gemmae which is reportedly a rare occurrence and not something that I'd seen before.

  

Gemmae on Ceratodon purpureus are reportedly a rare occurrence

The second one, near Ffostrasol, seemed more promising - plants like common storksbill and thyme-leaved sandwort suggested that the sand may have come from the Penparc quarry. A bit of surreptitious recording around the quarry edge last year had revealed the first Aloina ambigua for the county. I could find no Aloinas, or Fossombronia incurva which is in quantity on a sand-school in north Pembrokeshire, but after quite a long search I did find a few tiny shoots of what I thought was Gymnostomum viridulum mixed in with the abundant Barbula convoluta. This would have been an unexpected addition to the Ceredigion list, but Sharon Pilkington considered the specimen too poor to confirm / accept as a voucher.  Perhaps a hard sell to the architect drawing up the plans for the glamping pods anyway, but it suggests that the source quarry may have more to offer. Otherwise, there was some vigorous Aneura pinguis, Trichostomum brachydontium and a small quantity of Bryoerythrophyllum ferruginascens (also on the Pembrokeshire one).

Gymnostomum viridulum?