Rosebush Quarry and Craig y Cwm

The old slate quarries at Rosebush

Sam described the Rosebush Quarries as the best non-designated site for bryophytes in Pembrokeshire. I'd never looked at it, as it's been often-covered in the past, particularly by Martha Newton on her FSC courses. But Cotoneaster survey and a sunny day after rain gave me the excuse to do have a poke about. 

I added Bryoerythrophyllum ferruginascens to the site list in the car-park by the old quarry buildings. Unknown in Pembrokeshire until recently, this is now no longer a county rarity.

Several patches of Pohlia elongata in the south-eastern quarry pit were also new, and a second record for the county. Potentially more interesting was a Cynodontium growing on a ledge at the base of a worked face near one of the tunnels. With bistratose margins and more or less smooth cells it keys to C. tenellum which looks as if it might be new to Wales. NB, subsequently confirmed by Sharon Pilkington as new to Wales, and a long way south of previous Scottish records.

Cynodontium tenellum

I relocated some other species of interest, including Schistostega pinnata in a tunnel (with a hibernating horseshoe bat), Dicranella subulata, Grimmia donniana and Nardia compressa, the latter in a wet section of worked face. I didn't manage to find the Coscinodon cribrosus or Marsupella sprucei. With regards to the target non-native plant, the Cotoneaster integrifolius forms thick patches in several places, but hasn't yet taken over the whole quarry. Give it time...

Goblin Gold, Schistostega pinnata

Carrying on into the adjoining conifer plantations at Pantmaenog, it didn't take me long to find Campylopus subulatus on the tracks. Although there are only two other county records, it was abundant along at least a kilometre of track here - it must surely be widespread in other similar plantations, where it may have been overlooked. Alongside it in one location was a small amount of Ditrichum pusillum, which suggests that this too may not be quite the rarity that it has been in west Wales.  Pohlia drummondii was amongst the P. annontina here as well, in a scene reminiscent of my recent survey in Brechfa Forest.

Track with Campylopus subulatus, Ditrichum pusillum and Pohlia drummondii

I had just enough time to head out to Craig y Cwm, an old quarry on the hill nearby. This is the only known county location for Anomobryum julaceum, Solenostoma obovatum and Marsupella emarginata var. aquatica, all of which were refound. Nardia compressa is still flourishing here too. Some slender shoots of Lepidozia growing through Dicranum majus, with deeply divided lobes and male inflorescences terminal on long lateral branches, were confirmed by Nick Hodgetts as L. pearsonii. This hadn't been picked up in Pembs before, and the habitat is typical - apparently it likes the Dicranum. One other good find here, subsequently confirmed by Sharon Pilkington, was the second Welsh record of Thamnobryum maderense. Despite having obviously complanate shoots compared to T. alopecurum, it is sometimes considered a worthless taxa, but this specimen confirmed with the published characters on leaf shape, cell size and shape, and nerve cross section.

Anomobryum julaceum

Thamnobryum maderense nerve section and mid leaf cells