Mnium stellare Starry Thyme-moss

A pale-green, dioicous acrocarpous moss which forms mounds or cushions on base-rich rock outcrops, crags and old mortered walls. It is a mild calcicole and it is common on limestone but it is also found on sandstone rocks. The toothed, broadly egg-shaped leaves lack a border and the nerve ceases below the tip (see photos). Old senescing leaves turn blue. It is a fairly common species in much of the west and north of Britain and it is frequent in much of Wales. It is locally common in West Glamorgan where it occurs on the limestone of south Gower and on rocky embankments and old walls, particularly along disused raiway lines in Neath Port Talbot. Sporophyte capsules are rare.