THE BRYOPHYTES OF CORNWALL
AND THE ISLES OF SCILLY

Photo by Dr M Lueth ©.

*2: On open slope of mine-spoil/slag, N of Minions, SX27, 1998, DTH 98-374 (BBSUK) (Rothero 2003: 48).

Known inCornwall only from two old copper-mine areas in vc2, where it was first collected in 1997 by DTH. The plants are small, rather featureless, with leaves that are unusually wide with strongly recurved margins. They were not identified until several years after they were first found.

A single large patch of ca 450 cm² was present at Minions in 1998, but this declined progressively and became fragmented, so that only 3 cm² remained in total in January 2002 and it disappeared soon afterwards, to reappear briefly for a short time later. It grew on an area of almost horizontal blackish metalliferous ore that includes much granular slag-like material and is mainly bare of vegetation, although a little Funaria hygrometrica and Cephaloziella stellulifera is present near to the D. lineare and the latter species spread over and amongst it from 1998 to 2002, perhaps as a result of eutrophication from sheep dung.

Small amounts of D. lineare were discovered in earthy crevices of a steep retaining wall at Crow's Nest in 1998, when its population totalled ca 10 cm² , but this had declined to 6 cm² by March 2000. It disappeared soon afterwards because the wall was used for climbing practice that eroded soil from the crevices. Small amounts of Ditrichum cornubicum and Cephaloziella massalongi grew with it.

Chemical analyses of the substrate show it tolerates very high levels of Cu at the Minions locality, accompanied by moderately high levels of Pb and Zn. The substrate there is acidic.

Analyses of substrates from locality in Cornwall (metal concentrations given as µg/g dry weight):

LOCALITY (N samples)  Cu                           Pb                           Zn                           pH          Source  

Minions, vc2 (2)                   6746-7242            50-238                   223-410                 5.6          Walsh (2000).