Sunday 2 November 2014

Elusive Liverworts in Ingleton Glens

It was a privilege to join a group from the Yorkshire Naturalists Union Bryophytes Section to part of Ingleton Glens on 1 Nov to make a third attempt in searching for a rare liverwort (very rare in the UK) not seen since 1966/67. - Great to be with people who know their mosses and liverworts!

Tom Blockeel reminded me that the "Atlas of British and Irish Byophytes" will be published later on this month.. and that there are only a few days left in which to buy it at the £20 reduced pre-publication price.

Ingleton Glens is a Site of Special Scientific Interest. It is two deeply cut wooded valleys, the upper part through slate, the lower part through limestone.  The surrounding land use is pasture and quarry.  

Come and see some of the bryophytes (and lichens) we found.

Amphidium mougeotii - Mougeot's Yoke-moss forms soft round mounds
where there is base enrichment in the water draining over a rock.

Homalia trichomanoides Blunt Feather -moss

Sheets of Homalia and a few mounds of Amphidium

Scapania nemorea

Normandina pulchella
Whoops- that's a lichen not a moss!
This is one that is easily recognnisable, like its name, is beautiful, and is on that needs clean air. .. 
But may be spreading since the SO2 pollution is now less than 30 years ago.
Actually we did fins some in Ingleton churchyard (a mile away) earlier this year


Not sure what this lichen is.   Where this lichen grows the moss does not grow.
It has a black margin round the prothallus.
Are the black dots cephalodia,  parasitic lichens or reproductive bodies?

(cephalodia are parts of a lichen that have blue-green algae in them instead of normal green aglae. Blue-greens can fix atmospheric nitrogen to make their own "fertilizer"
I've put this here in the hope that a lichen friend will be able to help me.




The Normandina is on the moss bottom left.

This mound of Scapania does not have the brown gemmae so is not S nemorea. 
It is S gracile

S gracile

A liverwort, quite a rare on I.. will write up its name once I have checked it under the microscope...
I think it should be a darker green than this.

Same

Autumn colours



Group photo

On a rock face just in a field just outside the wood was this beautiful big Dog Lichen. There are at least 12 species of Dog Lichens in UK. This one is Peltigera leucophlebia. Bright green when wet, frilled at edges;
dark wart like cephalodia which cannot easily be reomoved.

Add caption

Peltigera leucophlebia in foreground on left.

The light starts to dwindle at 3.30pm .. need to head for base soon.
But what a warm mild day it has been for 1 November.

Campylopus atrovirens - looks dark, can look black. More of a mountain species

We did not find our liverwort. But we had a good day.

No comments: