Bryophytes at Lower Knotts, Tosside

We had a great day at Lower Knotts Nature Reserve near Tosside with the NWNU North West Naturalists Union Lower Plants Group on 20 Oct 2018

To start off with...we had a base camp.. to which we returned for lunch!

This is a new reserve a mile south west of Tosside in the forest of Bowland.
The centre of the reserve is where two OS gridlines intersect so it contains the corners of four monads (1 by 1 km squares).

 


The area covered by the first monad is the area you see in the picture (plus a little more). We managed to record over 40 species of mosses and liverworts here. (I am waiting for Gordon and Mike' 's grand totals).
Mike showed us the Calypogeia arguta - a tiny liverwort with shining yellow green blobs of clusters of gemmae. It was growing on bare clay.soil near the bank of the stream.

 Calypogeia arguta -Knotched pouchwort. It took a lot of looking to see some bigger leaves (see centre) that look like the ones in the book.

This is Scapania nemorea - Grove Earwort. It has brown gemmae.
I remember finding that in Ingleton Glens in November 2014.

 

When we got down to Bond Beck we found lots of Homalia trichomanoides - we had found a tuft of that at Ingleton Glens too. It prefers a basic influence.

Here is a big Cladonia (and some Campylopus introflexus)

There was a big ash tree in SD 7753.
Underneath was a Horse mushroom Agaricus arvensis
 

A branch had a Perusaria like lichen - that went yellow then quickly dark orange with alkali.- still trying to identify it.

 

 

The sun is setting on this fine Autumn Day.

Thank you Stephanie, Mike, Gordon,  and Naomi.