Common Smoothcap

I should have been writing a tender, and finishing a report but the bright sunshine and spring-like temperatures were just too tempting - so it was off to Lincolnshire to do some plant recording - at least I felt I was putting my time to good use.

I began in Elsea and Math Wood, where I wanted to check on a hellebore plant I'd seen last spring. I got a bit side-tracked by mosses, many of which are now fruiting. This is the rather remarkably shaped sporophyte of Common Smoothcap Atrichum undulatum which has a very long beak on the capsule lid. It's a distinctive moss, and is very frequent in woodland all over the country.

I then went on to explore the village of Dyke, which is located in a relatively well-recorded tetrad, but clearly no-one had visited in spring. I was able to add over 50 species to the total, including that classic spring trio - Primrose, Snowdrop and Lesser Celandine. and update other species that hadn't been seen for twenty years such as Wall-rue and Ivy-leaved Toadflax. A day well-spent...