Splachnum sphaericum Round-fruited Collar-moss

A dioicous acrocarpous moss that grows on the decaying dung of cattle and sheep (and other herbivores) particularly in upland areas in wet or damp places on moorland, heathland and marshy pastures. It is conspicuous when fruiting with its dark coloured capsules which have a thickened, but not a markedly swollen neck. The long-tapering leaves are hardly toothed. It is a Boreo-arctic montane species with a nortern distribution in Britain, with scattered records in Wales. It is very uncommon in West Glamorgan with few recent records. Sporophyte capsules are common.