{"id":2439,"date":"2014-03-15T03:52:21","date_gmt":"2014-03-15T08:52:21","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/rdnhs.org.uk\/blog\/?p=2439"},"modified":"2014-03-15T03:52:21","modified_gmt":"2014-03-15T08:52:21","slug":"watlington-hill-8-march-2014","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/rdnhs.org.uk\/blog\/watlington-hill-8-march-2014\/","title":{"rendered":"Watlington Hill – 8 March 2014"},"content":{"rendered":"

The moss-walk to Watlington Hill was very well attended, with 18 members, some beginners, some more expert, enjoying the beautiful weather and wonderful scenery. Sean O\u2019Leary led the walk, and started with an introduction to the life cycle of bryophytes, also demonstrating the difference between the two major moss groups, acrocarps and pleurocarps.\u00a0 In the car park an old cherry yielded some lovely \u2018epiphytic\u2019 species (those which grow on trees), including Orthotrichum lyellii<\/i>, and the liverwort Metzgeria furcata<\/i>. The walk continued onto the open chalk grassland area, with typical species such as Barbula unguiculata<\/i>, Rhytidiadelphus triquetrus<\/i> and squarrosus<\/i> and Scleropodium purum<\/i>, mingled with some nice examples of Ditrichum gracile<\/i> and Trichostomum crispulum<\/i>. The blue sky, magnificent views and Red Kites wheeling overhead made a delightful scene for those gazing aloft, equal to that viewed by the keener bryologists with eyes glued to the ground. There were a few Hairy Violet flowers in the short turf. Turning downhill across steeper grassy slopes brought us into some old Yew woods. On the wood edges and paths grew Kindbergia praelonga<\/i> in abundance, Thuidium tamariscinum<\/i>, Bryoerythrophyllum recurvirostrum<\/i> and Fissidens taxifolius<\/i>. An old bonfire site had a fine population of Funaria hygrometrica<\/i>. Finally, back to the car park to enjoy a piece of Louise\u2019s legendary muesli slice. Beautiful weather, a lovely spot and some fine mosses \u2013 Watlington Hill at its best.<\/p>\n

Report by Sean O’Leary<\/em><\/p>\n