24 December 2022 – Ashey, Isle of Wight
I seized my chance during a gap in the rain to head out to the village of Ashey near Ryde on the Isle of Wight. Ashey Down contains a chalkpit with many interesting bryophyte records, and I noticed that the nearby Ashey Cemetery had never been surveyed for bryophytes. In winter, chalk and cemeteries hold much promise for interesting ephemeral bryophytes and the fruitbodies of bryophilous fungi.
Ashey Cemetery
I started at Ashey Cemetery and found it to be smaller and with less disturbed soil than I had hoped. Nonetheless, bryophytes like Weissia sp. (capsules immature), Fissidens incurvus and the wonderful F. exilis abounded on the bare ground that was present. I also noticed huge amounts of an Ephemerum that proved to be the common E. serratum (formerly E. minutissimum). I was delighted to spot small orange discs dotted within some patches of the Ephemerum. Later microscopic examination revealed these to be Octospora bridei, which has very distinctive broadly fusiform, spinulose ascospores. As with many of these under-recorded and neglected bryophilous Pezizales, O. bridei is a new record for the British Isles. According to octospora.de, it is rather rare, only otherwise known from Germany, France and The Netherlands. Not a bad Christmas present!
Ashey Down and Chalkpit
I moved on to Ashey Down and checked out the chalk grassland there. I saw some nice patches of Weissia angustifolia, Ditrichum gracile and Neckera crispa. Microbryum davallianum var. davallianum and M. rectum represented the smaller Pottiaceae. Near the chalkpit, I found a patch of Didymodon icmadophilus / acutus, which requires verification. I failed to spot any fruitbodies of the common fungus Bryostroma trichostomi on any of its Pottiaceous hosts (Trichostomum spp,, Didymodon fallax, Weissia spp.). Checking some epiphyte-covered Elder (Sambucus nigra) yielded a lovely population of Octospora affinis on the lower parts of Lewinskya affinis (formerly Orthotrichum affine) stems. It was great to finally find this fungus on the Isle of Wight after many years of keeping an eye open for it.
Bryophilous fungi 