Schistostega pennata Luminous Moss

A remarkable and unique acrocarpous moss which produces male and female plants separately from the same protonema (pseudodioicous). It grows in dark places, often on crumbling soil, such as in disused rabbit burrows, deep crevices in rocks, mine shafts, caves, shaded lanes and hedgebanks. The convex, lens-like cells of the persistent protonema are refractive and they shine with a golden sparkle when light is shon on them. In caves and rabbit holes this can give a fanciful resemblance to 'hidden gold', hence its common name. It is a rather elusive species but because of its special, luminescent properties it has been searched for diligently in many parts of Britain and has been found in many new sites in recent decades. It is a Suboceanic spceis with a distinct, western ditribution in Britain, largely absent from the north and with a significant concentration in Cornwall. It has been found in a number of scattered locations in Wales and it has just one known site in West Glamorgan, in the Corrwg Valley, where Sharon Pilkinton recorded it in 2013. Sporophyte capsules are rare.