Silky Forklet-moss

As the river valley is flooded again, I headed to Old Sulehay NR for some exercise. It was generally very quiet, with few birds, and most of the plants and fungi in their resting states. But mosses and liverworts are in their prime, and as I walked through the wood I spotted this hummock of silky forklet-moss, snugly nestled in a bed of oak leaves.

This is a very common species of acid soils but is more local in our area because of the preponderance of limestone. Old Sulehay contains several areas of more acid sand, where oak, birch and bracken are all frequent, along with a range of fungi and bryophytes characteristic of acid conditions.One of the key features of this moss is the horizontal or inclined capsules, which are evident in this image.