*1: Mine-waste,
Porkellis Moor, Helston, 1966, JAP (BBSUK)
(Lewis & Smith 1978: 24, 26, Hill 1979: 29, MOH in Corley
& Hill 1981: 95).
*2: Mine-waste, Dimson,
Chilsworthy, 1966, KL (Lewis & Smith 1978: 24, 26, Hill
1979: 29, MOH in Corley & Hill 1981:
95).
Not generally recognised in Britain until the
revision by Lewis & Smith (1978), who used an incorrect
name for it. Its British distribution was revised by M.O. Hill
(in Corley & Hill 1981) and the nomenclature was amended
by Shaw (1981).
Sometimes appears to intergrade with P. annotina, with which
it is very often associated, but apparent 'intermediates' may
be plants of P. andalusica with
immature bulbils or those of P. annotina with few old
bulbils remaining. Besides bulbil form and their red-brown
colour, usually distinct from P. annotina in shorter
more erect leaves.
Grows as scattered stems or forms low and rather
open patches or turfs, sometimes pure and extensive and
covering several square metres. Haitat notes from Cornwall are
as follows. On ±
acidic substrates that are almost if not entirely in places
with high concentrations of copper and possibly other heavy
metals. Occurs on clayey, silty, sandy, gravelly or loamy
mineral 'soils', most often on partly bare mine-spoil and
frequently at edges of paths and tracks or in hollows where
water forms temporary puddles in winter. Also occurs on
copper-rich sandy-silt alluvium alongside the lower Red River on banks of this stream and
path sides in heathy areas nearby. One record from Gear Sands
of small amount on otherwise bare soil of a path through
dune-grassland near to mine-spoil. Most populations are in
unshaded places, with some in light partial shade, but it is
normally absent where there is heavier shade e.g. from bushes.
Recorded associates include Cephaloziella
massalongi,
C.
nicholsonii,
C.
stellulifera,
Dicranella varia,
Pohlia annotina,
Pohlia nutans,
Scapania compacta, Solenostoma
gracillimum.
Two records c.fr: Cambrose, vc1 and Gunnislake, vc2
(both in DTH), numerous capsules immature 4.
These are the only British records of sporophytes (cf. M.J.
Wigginton in Hill et
al. 1994: 65).
