Tortula pallida, Ford Pill, Milton

I needed a break from report writing when the sun came out on Tuesday afternoon, so I thought I'd check out Sam's Pembrokeshire site for Tortula pallida, which he newly described as a British species in the latest Field Bryology. Although only armed with a 1km grid reference, it was the first moss that I found. A few shoots were on a fescue dominated bank above the saltmarsh, rather than down in the regularly inundated zone. There was more in some Agrostis stolonifera grassland nearby with Didymodon tophaceus, but it was most frequent on the edge of a stone track at the edge of the upper saltmarsh. Associates here included Pohlia lescuriana (a nice bonus as only the second VC record), Aphanorrhegma patens, Bryum subapiculatum, Riccia subbifurca and Tortula truncata.  The only Hennediella heimii to be found was on a silt-covered log across the nearby creek.

Tortula pallida location on grassy bank

Tortula pallida and Pohlia lescuriana location on wet track

Rhizoidal gemmae of Pohlia lescuriana