Fossombronia caespitiformis Spanish Frillwort

A Mediterranean-Atlantic liverwort belonging to a group of thalloid forms that are known as frillworts. They grow mostly on open ground, free from competition, such as arable fields, tracks, bare ground in grasslands and on heaths. They can be difficult to ditinguish from each other in the field but they tend to grow in different habitats. Fossombronia caespitiformis grows on thin soils on calcareous ledges and rocky cliffs along the coast in southwest Britain and much more rarely inland. It is scattered and locally common along the south coast of Wales and it is locally frequent along the south coast of Gower. It is monoicous and sporophytes are frequent.