Tortula wilsonii Wilson's Pottia

A very rare, paroicous acrocarpous moss which grows on soil on cliffs, walls and banks. It is somewhat similar to Tortula truncata but the leaf margins are recurved and it differs from Tortula caucasica (Tortula modica) and Tortula viridifolia in the size of its spores and extremely papillose leaf cells (see photos). It is a Mediterranean-Atlantic species which has undergon a severe decline in Britain, particularly in recent decades. The most viable populations are in Cornwall but encouragingly Sam Bosanquet has been able to find a number of populations in Pembrokeshire since 2003. It is extremely rare in West Glamorgan with just one population located by BS on the south Gower coast in 2019, which was a new county record for Glamorgan (VC41). Sporophyte capsules are abundant in spring.