Chenia in Herefordshire

Jonathan Sleath (Kingstone, Herefordshire)
January 2004

After rather a demoralising drought-impoverished start to the arable bryology season, with immature stunted mosses and Riccia the size of pinheads, I dutifully surveyed a field at Kynaston, Herefordshire. This is towards the south of the county, where the soils are a little sandier and suitable for market gardening, although this was a wheat stubble field chosen as ordinary.

I did not notice anything unusual in the field, but on examining later the material I had collected at random I noticed on one sample some small plants with reflexed leaves that did not look quite like the stunted Tortula truncata with which I was becoming familiar. I washed out the soil from a couple of plants and was delighted to find the abundant tubers of Chenia leptophylla, rather a long way from the few known localities on the south coast of England. The field was also quite special as I noted a small cluster of Acaulon muticum.

The Chenia plants were smaller than those I had seen on the Isle-of-Wight, and were difficult to photograph, but I did obtain some images. The leaves are similar to a small Pottia, and would be very easy to overlook as that, but the apex is broader and usually reflexed, and the colour is a brighter green.

 

I returned to the field 10 days later to try to collect some more material and obtain retrospective permission to visit, but alas, the field had been freshly ploughed.

Jonathan Sleath