Lophocolea bispinosa Great Crestwort

A suboceanic, dioicous leafy liverwort which grows on base-poor substrates such as sandy or peaty tracks and also on coal spoil. On first inspection it doesn't look much like a Lophocolea and with its long acuminate lobes it could be mistaken for a Cephalozia species. It is a native of Australasia and was introduced to the Northern Hemisphere probably with horticultural plants. It was first reorded in Britain in 1962 and for a while was only known from the Scilly Isles. It has since spread gradually in the south and southwest of England and more recently in south Wales. It occurs in a number of sites in West Glamorgan, mostly in the uplands of Neath Port Talbot and is, presumably still undergoing a gradual range expansion. Sporophytes are occasional.