An entertaining hour I have spent, deep in Racomitrium... the fringe mosses.
These come from sandstone walls in the Moffat Hills, where I discovered a nice little suite from this group.
I am accustomed to the mountainous woolly fringe moss (R. laguninosum) and denizen of open, gravelly soil hoary fringe moss (R. canescens agg) but these were brand new to my eyes.
I believe the one above is Bristly fringe moss (Racomitrium herostichum (agg)) which is a common species on siliceous substrates in the north and west.
There are some real complexities involved in separating this from lesser fringe moss (R. affine) and the recently described R. obtusum, involving slicing and dicing and microscopes. As such, attempts to separate in the field are cautioned against.
Despite that, I think this is very obviously different to the specimen of R.heterosticum and is clearly R.affine.
The former has a rough and "hoary" vibe created by messily arranged, pale hair point leaf tips. The texture of terrier fur.
This looks neater and with its hair points all facing in one direction looks like soft, velvety green fur...a bit like Dicranales...also notable for the uniformity of the yellow green to the leaf point, which only has a short hair point.
Again, common on siliceous rocky habitats in the north and west.
Moffat Hills, Grey Mares Tail Jan 25.
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