The Lyons Share

I had a rather dull walk around Woods Mill this lunch time with my highlight being a fly over Cormorant (wahoo!). On a whim I decided to have a closer look at some mature Field Maples that I walk past most days. I was instantly confronted by a large moss that I didn't recognise. I thought it might of been Mnium hornum but I soon realised it was a pleurocarp and all the stem branches were running downwards, it's called Anomodon viticulosus. It was growing in discrete, bright-green patches that shrivel up really quickly when you leave them on your desk! It was growing beneath large areas of this moss, Neckera complanata.

Growing on the same tree I also noticed this little bryophyte. I was perplexed until I saw a dried up one. It's only Prince of Wales Feather-moss Leptodon smithii. I went all the way to Goodwood to look for this just a few weeks ago and all along it was growing right under my nose. The base-rich nature of the bark clearly results in a distinct community of mosses. I will be giving this area a good going over over the next few lunch breaks.