Bryum rubens Crimson-tuber Thread-moss

A small, tuberous Bryum that grows in bare places in arable fields and ruderal habitats. There are several other tuberous species which are similar, but this is one of the most common and widely distributed of them in Britain. Unlike the other tuberous species it has bright red tubers at the base of the lower leaves and below ground. There are scattered records of it in West Glamorgan but it almost certainly under recorded. Following disturbance along the coastal footpath at Rotherslade in 2024, it subsequently appeared in local abundance as a pioneer colonist on soil banks scraped bare, either side of new footpath, with associated terricoles including Campylopus introflexus, Placynthiella uliginosa, Pleuridium acuminatum, Pseudephemerum nitidum, Thelocarpon lichenicola, Trapelia coarctata and Vezdaea retigera.