Campylopus subulatus Awl-leaved Swan-neck Moss

A dioicous, acrocarpous moss which forms uneven, somewhat untidy loose turfs covered with deciduous shoot tips that provide an efficient means of vegetative dispersal and spread. The relatively short leaves with a very wide nerve are useful field identification features. It grows in fine gravel in mountain scree and at the sides of rivers but also in acidic gravelled soil along roads and tracks. It is locally common in Britain and scattered in Wales. It is very local in West Glamorgan where it appears to be spreading along the gravelled edges of forest roads in the conifer plantations of Neath Port Talbot. It also grows in more natural habitats in the Nedd Fechan valley near Pont Nedd Fechan. It rarely produces sporophyte capsules.