Sematophyllum substrumulosum Bark Signal-moss

A monoicous pleurocarpous moss which grows on decorticated conifer logs in conifer plantations and occasionally on old gorse bushes. It is similar to some epiphytic Hypnum species and is easily passed over for Hypnum andoi. However its leaves have a distictive tapering tip, the inclined capsules, which are small, are shorter and wider than Hypnum capsules and they have a long-beaked lid (see photo). It is a southern European species which has been expanding its range northwards in Europe in recent decades. It was first collected in Britain in Sussex in 1964 and later in 1996 on the Isles of Scilly. Since then it has spread gradually in parts of the west country, Ireland and Wales where it is still relatively uncommon. It seems probably that its gradual range expansion is a response to climate change and the large amount of conifer plantation in West Glamorgan should provide opportunities for further range expansion. It has already been found in a small number of plantation sites near Glyncorrwg in the Afan Valley. Sporophyte capsules are usually abundant and present at one stage or other for most of the year, but maturing between December and July. 

Sam Bosanquet (2013) provides a useful description of Sematophyllum substrumulosum and a summary of its early range expansion in Britain (Field Bryology, 109: 3-5).