Jncc coastal Directories Project Region 11 The Western Approaches

5.1  Terrestrial lower plants
81
Table 5.1.2  
Red Data Book lower plants found in the region
Species
Locations/habitat
Liverwort
Cephaloziella dentata
In shallow depressions and old tracks, Ruan Pool, Cornwall
Cephaloziella massalongi
Moist, copper-rich waste in old mine workings, most notably near Redruth and Gwennap,
Cornwall
Cephaloziella turneri
Crumbling acid soil, several sites in Cornwall and one in Gloucestershire
Marsupella profunda
a, b
Crumbling granite in old china clay workings west of Helston
Petalophyllum ralfsii
a, b
Short, damp turf in sand dunes, Penhale Sands, Cornwall, Braunton Burrows, Devon, and Kenfig,
Mid Glamorgan
Riccia bifurca
b
Damp hollows on heathy tracks, the Lizard, Cornwall
Riccia crystallina
Bulb fields and paths in the Isles of Scilly, Cornwall
Riccia huebeneriana
On mud at reservoir margin, Tamar Lake, Cornwall
Sphaerocarpos texanus
Bulb fields in the Isles of Scilly, Cornwall
Telaranea nematodes
Peaty soil, Trevelloe, south-west of Penzance, Cornwall
Mosses
Barbula cordata (Didymodon cordatus)
b
Crumbling sandstone soil, Saunton Down, Devon
Bryum warneum
Dune slacks, Braunton Burrows, Devon
Bryum gemmiparum
Rock crevices in streams, Welcombe Mouth and Malmesmead, Devon
Fissidens serrulatus
Riverside rocks and gravel, Castle Horneck, Cornwall
Habrodon perpusillus
Epiphytic, Candleston Castle, Glamorgan
Tortula cuneifolia
Bare soil at scattered coastal localities from Cornwall to Avon
Weissia levieri
Thin calcareous soil, Brean Down, Somerset
Weissia multicapsularis
Moist, non-calcareous soil, near Wadebridge and Pentire Point, Cornwall
Stoneworts
Chara baltica
Slightly saline pools, the Lizard, Cornwall, and Braunton Burrows, Devon
Chara fragifera
Clear, shallow moorland pools and vehicle ruts, the Lizard, Cornwall
Tolypella intricata
Alkaline water in ditch, Gordano Valley, Avon
Lichens
Acarospora subrufula
Exposed granite rocks, Isles of Scilly
Arthonia anglica
On bark in ancient woodland, Millook Valley, Cornwall, and Peppercombe, Devon
Bacidia incompta
On tree trunks, the Lizard, Cornwall, Valley of Rocks, Devon, and New Breach Fields, Glamorgan
Caloplaca aractina
Coastal rocks, Kynance Cove, the Lizard, Cornwall
Caloplaca luteoalba
b
Epiphytic; unlocalised records, Devon, Somerset and Glamorgan
Caloplaca virescens
Epiphytic; unlocalised record, the Lizard, Cornwall
Cladonia convoluta
Sunny calcareous coastal slopes, Crook Peak, Somerset, Purn Hill, Avon, and an unlocalised record
from north Devon
Cladonia mediterranea
Calcareous soil, Kynance Cove, the Lizard, Cornwall
Collema latzeli 
Sunny coastal rocks, several sites on the Lizard, Cornwall
Cryptolechia carneolutea 
Epiphytic, Landewednack and Coverack, Cornwall, and Hartland Vale, Devon
Endocarpon pusillum
Calcareous soil in railway cutting, Afon Alun Valley, Glamorgan
Heterodermia isidiophora
On mosses, Kynance Cove, the Lizard, Cornwall
Heterodermia leucomelos
b
Exposed coastal rocks and turf, several localities in the Isles of Scilly and mainland Cornwall
Heterodermia propagulifera
b
Exposed peaty soil, Tresco, Isles of Scilly
Lecanactis amylacea
On ancient oak bark, Trelissick, Cornwall
Lecanora strobilina
Unlocalised record, Isles of Scilly
Lecidea sarcogynoides
On exposed granite; unlocalised record, Isles of Scilly
Opegrapha subelevata
On slate, Torrs Walk, Ilfracombe, Devon
Parmelia minarum
b
On bark of oak near Fal Estuary, Trelissick, Cornwall
Parmelia quercina
On walnut, Horner Valley, Somerset, and on elm and several unlocalised records from Devon
Parmelia tinctina 
On rocks, Kynance Cove, the Lizard, Cornwall
Physcia tribacioides
b
On nutrient-enriched tree bark and boulders, Kynance Cove and the Lizard, Cornwall
Porina sudetica
On heavy metal-rich soil and rocks near mine workings, Botallack and Porthglaze Cove, Cornwall
Pseudocyphellaria aurata
Heather stems in coastal heath, Wingletang Down, St. Agnes, Isle of Scilly
Ramalina chondrina 
On soil and shaded rocks, Land’s End, Cornwall
Schismatomma graphidioides
On ash trees, Horner Combe, Somerset
Solenopsora liparina
b
On serpentinite rocks, Kynance Cove, the Lizard, Cornwall
Sticta canariensis
On rocks and trees (unlocalised records, Devon and Cornwall)
Teloschistes flavicans
b
Nutrient-rich rocks, bark, soil etc. at scattered coastal localities throughout the region
Source: JNCC lower plants database.  Key: 
a
protected under Annex II of the EC Habitats & Species Directive and Appendix I of the Bern
Convention; 
b
protected under Schedule 8 of the Wildlife & Countryside Act.

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Book (RDB - i.e. nationally rare) species found in the region
(out of a total of 137 bryophytes, twelve stoneworts and
179 lichens on the British Red Lists), excluding extinct
species.  The moss Ditrichum cornubicum is endemic to
Cornwall (i.e. occurs nowhere else) and is confined to a
single site.  The liverwort Marsupella profunda is the only
British plant listed in the EC Habitats & Species Directive as
a ‘priority species’, for which Special Areas of Conservation
must be selected.  One additional bryophyte, the liverwort
Cephaloziella nicholsonii, is endemic to Great Britain.  In
addition, the region contains 97 out of 313 nationally scarce
bryophytes and four of the nine nationally scarce
stoneworts (figures for nationally scarce species are
provisional).  There is currently not enough information to
provide even provisional regional lists of nationally scarce
lichens and fungi.
5.1.3  Human activities
Current issues that may have a bearing on the lower plant
flora of the region include urban expansion, road
construction programmes, holiday and leisure
developments, marine pollution and acid rain.  Lowering of
the water table may have an effect on wetland sites,
particularly bogs and wet heath.  Wet heaths are vulnerable
to scrub encroachment and eventual drying out, often the
result of insufficient or no grazing.  Overgrazing in
woodlands has an effect on the lower plant communities in
the long term, as the average age of the trees increases.
Most of the old derelict mine sites rich in heavy metals are
potential targets for redevelopment.  Cliff-top grassland and
heathland are subject to erosion in some places, particularly
close to conurbations: the fragile mosaics of thin vegetation
are prone to replacement with coarse grassy swards when
enriched with manure or fertiliser.  A close species-rich
sward with bare soil should be maintained at important
coastal grassland sites: a certain amount of instability and a
low level of nutrient input is often desirable to achieve this.
Pollution is a general problem but may be aggravated in
some areas by new power stations, oil spillages etc.  Many
of the larger and more important sites in the region are
National Nature Reserves (NNRs) or SSSIs and therefore
nature conservation is taken into account in their
management.  
5.1.4  Information sources used
Data are generally good for bryophytes and the larger
lichens but are less complete for fungi, algae and the smaller
lichens.  In general, Cornwall has better survey coverage
than Devon, although a smaller proportion of the sites have
protected status.  
The computerised database at the Biological Records
Centre (BRC), Monks Wood, and the Red Data Book
database at JNCC include recent records collected over
decades by expert bryologists as well as important historical
records.  Some important, or potentially important, coastal
lichen sites have been identified in recent surveys (Fletcher
1984; James & Wolseley 1991), but as relatively few have
been comprehensively surveyed, there may be more sites of
importance for lichens than are shown in 
Tables 5.1.1
and
5.1.2
.  All British Mycological Society foray data are
currently being put onto a computer database at the
International Mycological Institute under a JNCC contract.
Computerised stonewort data are held at BRC and JNCC.  
5.1.5  Further sources of information
A.  References cited
Fletcher, A., ed. 1984.  Survey and assessment of lowland lichen
heath habitats.  Nature Conservancy Council, CSD Report, No. 522.
Hodgetts, N.G.  1992.  Guidelines for selection of biological SSSIs: non-
vascular plants. Peterborough, Joint Nature Conservation
Committee.
James, P.W., & Wolseley, P.A.  1991.  A preliminary report of coastal
lichen sites in England, Wales and Scotland. Peterborough,
unpublished report to the Nature Conservancy Council.
B.  Further reading
British Lichen Society Woodland Lichens Working Party.  1993.
Revised assessment of epiphytic lichen habitats - 1993. Joint
Nature Conservation Committee Report, No. 170.
Fletcher, A., ed. 1982.  Survey and assessment of epiphytic lichen
habitats.  Nature Conservancy Council, CSD Report, No. 384. 
Hawksworth, D.L.  1972.  The natural history of Slapton Ley Nature
Reserve.  IV.  Lichens.  Field Studies, 3: 535-578.
Hill, M.O., Preston, C.D., & Smith, A.J.E.  1991.  Atlas of the
bryophytes of Britain and Ireland.  Volume 1.  Liverworts.
Colchester, Harley Books.
Hill, M.O., Preston, C.D., & Smith, A.J.E.  1992.  Atlas of the
bryophytes of Britain and Ireland.  Volume 2.  Mosses (except
Diplolepideae). Colchester, Harley Books.
Hill, M.O., Preston, C.D., & Smith, A.J.E.  1994.  Atlas of the
bryophytes of Britain and Ireland.  Volume 3.  Mosses (Diplolepideae).
Colchester, Harley Books.
Ing, B.  1992.  A provisional red data list of British fungi.  The
Mycologist, 6(3): 124-128.
Paton, J.A.  1969.  A bryophyte flora of Cornwall.  Transactions of the
British Bryological Society, 5: 669-756.
Ratcliffe, D.A., ed. 1977.  A nature conservation review. Cambridge,
Cambridge University Press.
Rotheroe, M.  1992.  A survey of the mycoflora of British sand dunes
1991-92.  Joint Nature Conservation Committee Report, No. 60.
Region 11  Chapter 5  Important species
82

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