Bryologists Trip to Glencripesdale
Thursday 4th September 2008
Hi Andy,
We met a few weeks ago when you were kind enough to ferry my partner Gilles and I across to Glencripesdale for me to spend a happy few hours looking at the mosses and liverworts over there.
We were struck by your passion for the wonderful wildlife of your beautiful area and I wish that we had made your acquaintance sooner in our holiday. Even though it's a very long way from Wiltshire I will return again sooner rather than later.
Glencripesdale was absolutely stunning. It's a hidden gem of a place that would attract more bryologists and botanists if they thought they could get to it more easily I'm sure. As I mentioned to you, in bryological circles the Atlantic oakwoods of western Britain are regarded as a 'holy grail' and western Scotland has some of the best examples in Europe.
I have enclosed a few of the photographs I took while I was there. You are very welcome to use any of them if you wish in your website or leaflets; all I ask is a credit somewhere in the small print. I have reduced them from much larger (3Mb) resolution. If you would like any of the large originals please do say.
The boulders in the wood are absolutely smothered by mosses and liverworts. Some of these are highly characteristic of Atlantic oakwoods like Glencripesdale and Glenborrowdale. They don't have common names unfortunately but include the following species (* indicates photo attached):
Scapania gracilis (leafy liverwort)
Saccogyna viticulosa (leafy liverwort)
Plagiochila spinulosa (leafy liverwort)
Bazzania trilobata (leafy liverwort)*
Rhytidiadelphus loreus (moss)*
Wilson's Filmy-fern* is one of the most amazing ferns in the wood. Unlike other British ferns this tiny species has very thin fronds that dehydrate really quickly. It therefore only lives in places where rainfall is extremely high. I've seen it elsewhere, such as North Wales and the Lake District, but never in such abundance. In Glencripesdale it grows amongst the mosses and liverworts on the trees and rocks.
The large leafy liverworts have similar requirements to the filmy ferns as they have large leaves only one cell thick. Many of these species are rare or absent in the British lowlands.
One of the best finds for me in Glencripesdale was the beautiful leafy liverwort Trichocolea tomentella*. It's not common anywhere and needs very high humidity again. Ununsually for a liverwort it's leaves are quite tomentose (densely hairy) hence the 'fuzziness' in the photo.
Another uncommon species we saw over there that could attract botanists generally would be Hay-scented Buckler-fern (Dryopteris aemula). Also, my knowledge of lichens is poor but the large green lichen that looks a bit like shredded lettuce (see the oak trees at the top of your steps!) is Lobaria pulmonaria. It was abundant in Glencripesdale and is an indicator of both high humidity and very clean air.
I hope all this is of interest and please do let me know if you'd like any other information from a botanical perspective.
If you hadn't been able to take us across in your RIB I don't think we'd have been able to go, so your boating company was invaluable to me. I shall spread the word in bryological circles……...
Kind regards,
Sharon Pilkington