Bryophytes in North Wiltshire (VC7)
Activities and highlights in 2009
By Sharon Pilkington, BBS Regional Recorder
Click here to download a pdf of the report
New VC records
Several new vice-county records have been made recently. Two of these species were to be expected as they have been spreading across much of the country in recent years. The tiny leafy liverwort Cololejeunea minutissima was found near Sandpool Farm near Ashton Keynes. It was subsequently found at another site in the Cotswold Water Park soon after and there are now records from Clinghill Wood near Bromham and Savernake Forest. It is not the easiest species to find, but I anticipate many more records in the future.
Didymodon nicholsonii is a rather nondescript olive-green moss that forms low-growing carpets on damp tarmac such as driveways and pavements. It is one of the few bryophytes that can be spotted from the car (with practice!) but was not actually recorded from VC7 until it was found at Bowden Hill. Subsequently it has been reported from Melksham town centre and Smallgrain picnic site near Calne. It used to be a rare moss but has spread across the country in recent times. It is surely widespread in VC7.
First recent records
There are many species of bryophyte in North Wiltshire which have not been recorded for half a century or more. Joan Appleyard was very actively recording in our area in 1950 but little has been done since so many species are at risk of being regarded as ‘extinct’ if they have no recent records in VC7. With this in mind I have set about tracking down some old records. Savernake Forest has proved to be particularly fruitful. In one visit just before the Christmas snow I found Dicranum majus, Plagiothecium undulatum and Rhytidiadelphus loreus all in one small area of the wood. These acidophile species were recorded 50-60 years ago from only this area, though they are all common in upland areas in the west of Britain. In addition Leucobryum juniperoideum was found in the same locality, new to VC7. Savernake is a bit of a hotspot for bryophytes in our area and provides a locus to a number of regionally scarce species, such as the epiphytic moss Orthotrichum stramineum and liverwort Frullania tamarisci.
At Swillbrook Lakes near Ashton Keynes, I found another ‘wanted’ moss. Unfortunately this large colony of Orthotrichum tenellum was growing on the bark of a willow that had just been felled as part of habitat improvements (!) so it is unlikely to persist. However, since then I have found it at another site nearby so its future seems more secure. The same willow also supported the diminutive epiphyte Syntrichia papillosa which is also very scarce in the VC (though almost certainly under-recorded). This species has since also been found on Elder at Morgan’s Hill.
Other interesting finds
Stanton Park, near Swindon, has an extensive area of wet woodland. Tim Kaye and I did a bryophyte survey of the area in 2009 and discovered two notable species associated with this habitat. Nowellia curvifolia is a tiny, dark red leafy liverwort that favours rotting wood in very humid places. It is relatively common in oceanic areas of Britain but very rare this far east. There are several good-sized colonies in the woodland at Stanton Park. Deep among the willows we made another good find: the nationally scarce moss Platygyrium repens grows on trees there. It had previously only been known from a woodland near Wootton Bassett but has since been found on scrub during a Wessex Bryology Group visit to West Yatton Down. It is likely to be present elsewhere in the VC but is not the most obvious moss!
