Campylopus flexuosus Rusty Swan-neck Moss

A common, dioicous acrocarpous moss of acidic habitats including conifer forests, crags and cliffs, decaying logs and peaty ground. It can be confused with Campylopus pyriformis but its stems are matted with rhizoids and it has very distinctive patches of large red-brown cells in the basal corners of the leaves, which are just about visible with a good hand lens (see photos). It is widespread in most of Britain except eastern England and it is a very common species of calcifuge habitats in Wales. It is found throughout west Glamorgan in suitable habitats and it is a particularly common moss in the ground flora and on decaying logs in Sitka Spruce (Picea sitchensis) forests in the conifer plantations of Neath Port Talbot. Sporophyte capsules are occasional in spring and summer.