Author: Kerry Milligan

Three bryologists joined the lichen party for the scenic walk from Little Town to Keskadale Farm. It was nice to be shown Ricasolia (Lobaria) virens and other big lichens on an ash pollard, but there were clearly numerous other interesting things to distract the lichenologists, so we left them to it and made our way up through the bracken, gorse and heather to the edge of the wood.

Keskadale Oakwood lies on a steep south-east facing slope at between 300 and 450m above sea level. Together with the nearby Birkrigg and Young Wood near Mungrisedale, it one of the highest altitude oak woodlands in England, and has been designated as an SSSI because of this. It is part of the much larger Buttermere Fells SSSI which stretches from Honister Pass to Whinlatter. The underlying rocks are Skiddaw slates, the oldest rocks in Cumbria. Most of the wood lies within NY2019. 43 bryophyte species have previously been recorded for this monad, but there have been no records since the 1960s.

The first thing we noticed was how dry everything was. There are no permanent watercourses in the wood, and lack of rain the previous week meant that the bryophytes were rather inconspicuous. Spray bottles were definitely required! Secondly we were surprised by the limited range of species in the lower part of the wood. Hylocomium splendens was fairly ubiquitous with some Dicranum scoparium, Polytrichum formosum, Isothecium myosuroides, Hypnum andoi, Pseudoscleropodium purum, Rhytidiadelphus loreus and Mnium hornum. The introduced Orthodontium lineare, with its distinctive capsules, also proved to be quite frequent. However there were notable absences. We did not find any Leucobryum glaucum, Dicranum majus or Bazzania trilobata. Even Rhytidiadelphus squarrosus was not found (although it must surely be present?).

Climbing up the slope we started to record more species, particularly around exposed rocks. Although Skiddaw slates are typically very acidic, rocks provide niches for species different to those found on the woodland floor. Both Racomitrium affine and R. lanuginosum were frequently encountered here, as well as Andreaea rupestris, though A. rothii seemed to be lacking until one patch was found at the end of the day. Liverworts also started to put in an appearance including Scapania gracilis, Lophozia ventricosa, Lepidozia reptans and three Orthocaulis (formerly Barbilophozia) species, O. floerkei, O. attenuata and O. atlantica. A small acrocarp with orange- brown capsules turned out to be Rhabdowisia fugax, probably the most interesting find of the day and a new species for all of us. Polytrichum piliferum was quite frequent and Hedwigia stellata was also found at one location.  In a few places we saw non-fruiting Diphyscium foliosum with its distinctive thick, opaque, tongue-shaped leaves. Tree trunks and branches had limited epiphytes; they were mainly covered with Hypnum andoi, though we did find small amounts of Frullania tamarisci, Ulota crispa and Lewinskya affinis, as well as Scapania gracilis. Even Metzgeria furcata was not seen.

Coming out at the top of the wood, we were treated to a magnificent view of the Newlands Valley and surrounding fells. The presence of young oak trees here amongst the tall heather is hopefully a sign that the wood is expanding, although sheep and deer are still slowing this process. Small cushions of Bartramia pommiformis were found at the top of Ard Gill. Here we met the lichen group briefly before heading down the steep slopes back to the valley floor. Although only 36 species were recorded, it was a most interesting and enjoyable day in spectacular surroundings.

Text: Kerry Milligan
Photos: Kerry Milligan and Clare Shaw

Despite the forecast of  heavy rain all day, a respectable group gathered in Brampton to share cars to Askerton Castle. Mollen Wood Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI)  is part of the Askerton Castle Organic Estate which lies 3km north of Hadrian’s Wall and about 15k south of the Scottish Border. The estate’s owners had  kindly granted access to the wood and permission to park at the farm, a kilometre to the south.  At 30ha the  SSSI is quite small, but is still one of the largest areas of wet Alder woodland remaining  in East Cumbria. Overlying  Carboniferous shales, it has a range of soil types from acidic to moderately base rich. There  are surprisingly few  existing records of lichens or bryophytes from the site, which was one of the motivations for the visit.

After a brisk walk along the road, the bryophyte contingent left the lichen party and plunged into the largest section of the SSSI (Mollen Wood sensu stricto). The lower part was very wet indeed and dominated almost exclusively by  Alder with old multi-stemmed trees and plenty of dead wood. A range of common mosses including Thuidium tamariscinum, Isothecium myosuroides. I alopecuroides,  Mnium hornum,  Calliergonella cuspidata and Polytrichum formosum were quickly found.  Closer inspection of the deadwood produced the  liverworts Lepidozia reptans and Riccardia palmata, and the diminutive moss Tetraphis pellucida with its distinctive gemmae cups. The numerous small watercourses flowing down into this area proved interesting with the mosses Ctenidium  molluscum, Rhizomnium punctatum, Sciurophypnum plumosum and Platyhypnidium riparoides,  and the liverworts Plagiochila porelloides and Scapania undulata all recorded here.  Patches of the rather liverwort-like moss  Hookeria lucens, with its huge cells easily visible under a x10 handlens, was present, and a single small patch of the attractive liverwort Trichocolea tomentella (Handsome Woollywort) was also found.

As we moved up-slope there was a gradual transition to drier, more acidic soils with a different suite of bryophytes present including Rhytidiadelphus loreus, Scapania gracilis, Loeskeobryum brevirostre, Dicranum majus and Hylocomium splendens. Dicranodontium denutatum  was frequent on dead wood, often with the liverwort Barbilophozia attenuata growing through it. Perhaps the two star finds of the day were Tritomaria exscecta and T exsectiformis growing  quite close together. These tiny  very similar liverworts live amongst other bryophytes  and are usually only found due to the red gemmae present on the leaf tips. Examination under the microscope is needed to see rounded  gemmae of T exsecta and the angular gemmae of  T exsectiformis. 

Despite the wetness of the site, it was late afternoon before we encountered any sphagna. A large patch of Sphagnum palustre with some S inundatum were found in a spring as we left the site. Ditches in the adjacent pasture also provided a diversion on the way back to the road with  Palustriella commutata, P falcata and Philonotis fontana amongst other things.

In the end  the rain mostly missed this remote corner of Cumbria and the group had a very interesting and enjoyable day. A total of  74 species were recorded  for monad NY5670.

Report by Kerry Milligan

Photos: Paul Ross (PR), Belinda Lloyd (BL), Ian Burrow (IB) and Kerry Milligan (KM)

For a change the sun was shining and the winds light for our October meeting at High Wallowbarrow Farm near Seathwaite in the Duddon Valley. The farm is unusual in having large areas of ancient semi-natural woodland, most of which lies within the Duddon Valley Woodlands Site of Special Scientific Interest. Whilst bryophytes have been quite well recorded in parts of the SSSI, other areas appear to have been little visited; monad SD2196 immediately west of the farmhouse  has records for only three species, whilst the adjacent monad (SD2296) has a list of 189 species. We decided to focus the morning’s efforts in SD2196 and visit the spectacular Wallowbarrow Gorge in SD2296 in the afternoon.

After a brief introduction, we made our way to Wallowbarrow Coppice, an area of upland oakwood on a steep west facing slope with frequent birch and hazel. An abundance of common mosses such as Thuidium tamariscinum, Isothecium myosuroides, Rhytidiadelphus loreus and Polytrichum formosum covered the woodland floor, rocks and tree bases, with the liverworts Scapania nemorea, Scapania gracilis, Diplophyllum albicans also abundant. More unusual species included Rhabdoweisia crenulata, Orthocaulis (Barbilophozia) atlantica, Tritomaria exsectiformis, and Scapania umbrosa. A quick foray into a small mire above the wood added several Sphagna including Sphagnum papillosum and S rubellum, together with Polytricum strictum and Aulocomium palustre. An unusual Racomitrium on rocks nearby was later confirmed as R obtusum. This was formerly considered a variety or subspecies of R. heterostichum and there are as yet very few records of it in Cumbria, although it is likely to be quite widespread. Whilst we did not re-find Syzigiella (Jamesoniella) autumnalis, Grimmia ramondii or Ptychomitrium polyphyllum which had previously been found in SD2196, 62 new species were recorded. We could probably have spent the whole day in this monad and identified a lot more, but after lunch we headed into SD2296 to visit Crag End Wood and Wallowbarrow Gorge. Quickly ticking off many of the common bryophytes already encountered in the morning, we soon found some new species including Diphyscum foliosum and Hyocomium armoricum on the river banks, Sciuro-hypnum plumosum and Marsupella aquatica on rocks in the river, Amphidium mougeotii and Saccogyna viticulosa on crags, and Dicranodontium denudatum on dead wood. Towards the end of the day, the rain came in and we retreated. In total 83 bryophytes were recorded across the two monads. Thanks to Chris at High Wallowbarrow Farm for access and to everyone who participated in what was a very enjoyable day.

Text: Kerry Milligan. Photos: Kerry Milligan, Clare Shaw, Paul Ross.