*1 : (Paton 1984:
5, Corley 1985: 21).
*2: Damp soil among ruins of old copper mine, W. of
Caradon Hill, June 1962, JAP 6506 (BBSUK) (Paton 1963:
488, 1969a: 702, 1984: 5, Corley 1985:
21).
As noted above, C. massalongi and C. nicholsonii were not
usually separated until the study by Paton (1984), so that
only those older specimens revised then or since are allocated
to the species. Older records that have not been revised are
placed only as the s.
l.
Forming mats, usually pure and often locally
dominant, on lithosols, clay banks, thin humic or mineral
'soil' layers on rocks, or directly on rock surfaces. Only in
areas about old copper mines and on their spoil, or along
streams draining from them, usually where evidently very rich
in copper. Occurs on horizontal and sloping surfaces and on
steeper substrates e.g. in crevices at base of walls, low on
damp walls, on vertical banks of mine-spoil, or on vertical
stream and ditch banks and streamside rocks (including sites
that flood at times), where unshaded to moderately or rather
heavily shaded. Associates commonly include Cephaloziella
nicholsonii, Cephaloziella
stellulifera, Solenostoma
gracillimum, Pohlia
annotina; less often Ceratodon purpureus,
Ditrichum
cornubicum, Gymnocolea inflata, Pohlia andalusica, Pohlia nutans and Scopelophila
cataractae. Higher plants are usually few and the cover
incomplete, but those nearby often include Agrostis tenuis and Calluna
vulgaris.
Gemmae usually abundant. No record of
perianths (or of sporophytes).
Chemical analyses of its substrates show
it can tolerate high levels of Cu at a Cornish locality,
whereas levels of Pb and Zn are not exceptionally high at the
site studied. All substrates investigated were
acidic.
Analyses of substrates from localities inCornwall
(metal concentrations given as µg/g dry
weight):
LOCALITY (N samples) Cu
Pb
Zn
pH
Source
Gilbert's Coombe, vc1 (4) 2024-3512
82-288
245-485
5.1-5.4
Rouen (2000)