Scleropodium touretii Glass-wort Feather-moss

A xerophytic, dioicous, pleurocarpous moss which forms lax patches on base-rich soils and rocks in warm locations. The swollen, worm-like shoots with concave, overlapping leaves have a distinctive appearance. It is able to tolerate long periods of dry conditions and often occurs in well-drained, south-facing locations near the coast that are trampled reglarly. It is a Mediterranean-Arlantic species which has a southern and mostly coastal distribution in Britain. In West Glamorgan it is only found in the short turf and on limestone rock along the Gower coast. Sporophyte capsules are rare.