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Suffolk Natural History, Vol. 48
Bryophytes in Suffolk 2011 The year started in an exciting manner with the discovery of the liverwort Microlejeuna ulicina and the moss Ulota coarctata growing close together on a branch of an oak tree at Purdis Heath (TM24B), both were new species for Suffolk (see White Admiral 78). A few weeks later I came across the hornwort Anthoceros agrestis in a stubble field near Stoke by Nayland (TL93X) which was another addition to the Suffolk bryoflora. This has been recorded several times in Norfolk in recent years so I was very pleased to at last find it in Suffolk. This discovery was the result of a search that I made during the spring for the liverworts Sphaerocarpos michelii and S. texanus. They are most often found in stubble fields, and can only be separated by examination of ripe spores, so early spring is the best time to look for them. 2011 was a good year for both species. I was able to find S. michelii at fifteen sites and S. texanus at twelve thus doubling the previous total number of Suffolk records for the latter, a Red Data Book species. Forty-nine tetrads that were previously unrecorded were visited, a figure that would have been greater had I not incurred an injury (during the course of bryologising) that kept me out of the field for most of the autumn. The following were also noteworthy records made during the course of the year. Mosses Acaulon muticum Churchyard at Harkstead. TM13X, 7 March 2011. Bartramia pomiformis Roadside bank, Lound. TG50A, 13 February 2011. Bryum algovicum var. rutheanum Disused sand pit, Holton. TM47D, 8 August 2011. Campyliadelphus chrysophyllus Disused chalk pit, Brandon. TL88D and TL79Y, 2 February 2011. Grimmia dissimulata Gravestone in cemetery, Stowupland. TM05U, 23 March 2011. Gravestone in churchyard, Wixoe. TL74B, 9 September 2011. Grimmia trichophylla On stone capping on parapet of a bridge over the railway line, Thurston. TL96M, 4 April 2011. This is a plant that rarely produces sporophytes in lowland Britain, but on this occasion capsules were abundant. Hennediella stanfordensis On the vertical bank of a stream, Felixstowe. TM33D, 3 March 2011. Microbryum curvicolle Abundant in and around a disused chalk pit in King’s Forest, Wordwell. TL87L, 18 January 2011. Microbryum floerkeanum Stubble field near Lavenham. TL94D, 11 September 2011. Orthotrichum tenellum On an elder at Thorndon TM16P, 21 January 2011 and on a willow at Great Wenham TM03U, 11 February 2011. Pohlia lutescens At side of a vehicle rut, Tunstall Forest TM35X, 23 November 2011. Scleropodium cespitans Abundant on top of churchyard wall, Woodbridge. TM24U, 8 August 2011. Seligeria calcarea Abundant in a disused chalk pit, Brandon TL88D and TL79Y, 2 February 2011.
Trans. Suffolk Nat. Soc. 48 (2012)