Bryophytes of springs and flushes - 2009 course notes - Plantlife

Scapania undulata
This common riparian liverwort is also
frequent in acid flushes where it is often
reddish-purple in colour. Higher up the hill it
often occurs with the rather similar Scapania
uliginosa.
Dicranella palustris
The bright yellow-green colour of the patches
of this moss stand out from a distance and
the reflexed leaves give the shoots a star
shape viewed from above.
Sphagnum denticulatum
This bog-moss is common in a variety of
habitats but it is characteristic of the margins
of many M32 flushes. In springs it almost
always has an ochre-ish tinge and this and
the curved branches mean that it is easily
recognised. Higher up the hill where the
water is colder, it also forms a flush
community (M31) with the next species.
Anthelia julacea
A tiny liverwort but one which often forms
large swelling cushions in flushes over acid,
stony ground in the higher hills, often below
snow beds. In the M31 community usually
occurs with Scapania undulata and Scapania
uliginosa and Sphagnum denticulatum. This
community can have very large stands on
easy-angled ground on high plateaux.
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