A bitter wind and a suggestion of snow in the air meant that only the hardiest moss enthusiasts met at the Cowleaze Wood car park on Saturday 5 March for an Introduction to Mosses and Liverworts with Sean O’Leary. Nonetheless, 8 members assembled, including a number of moss-walk regulars. Cowleaze is a mixed woodland near Christmas Common with some conifer plantation and fine views over the Wormsley Estate, the site of the original re-introduction of the Red Kite into Britain. Their fluty whistle could be heard overhead throughout the afternoon. There were new lambs in the adjoining fields and the first Bluebell flowers were spotted.
Much of the walk concentrated on epiphytic bryophytes (those which grow on trees) and several species were found which, once rare, have recently increased in frequency possibly due to cleaner air and global warming. Orthotrichum stramineum was particularly abundant and Sue White also found Orthotrichum pulchellum. A small amount of the tiny Cololejeunea minutissima was scrutinized at high magnification, revealing tiny 5-sided perianths. The rarest find was Herzogiella seligeri, often overlooked due to its similarity to commoner species, which was growing on a rotten log, its usual home. Now something of a tradition, members enjoyed a slice or two of Louise’s muesli crunch to round off the walk.
Report by Sean O’Leary
Pictures by Sue White