Blue above, and blue below. Rather a lot of brambles though...

Had a quick check in our seaweed press from Isles of Scilly trip a couple of weeks ago - looking 👌

Stumbled across an absolute riot of Riccia growing between daffodil rows and tractor tracks beside this field on Isles of Scilly. We think the extensive rosettes, with slightly perforated thallus, are Riccia crystallina...

Another street tree epiphyte that's becoming more common in London - Orthotrichum tenellum forms small neat cushions with notably long capsules and calyptra. The leaf tips also have a distinctive beak at the end. Another bryophyte taking advantage of the cleaner air!

I was admiring the luxuriance of South London bryophyte epiphytes yesterday. Street trees carpeted in Syntrichia papillosa; huge cushions of Pulvigera lyelii... some nice species diversity but also saw 'algal gloop' smothering wall top mosses. Nitrogen pollution impacting in different ways.

JOB KLAXAN! Just in time for Christmas, we are advertising a curatorial role in the Cryptogamic Herbarium, NHM London. Curator of Ferns! Details in link here (closing date 18/01/2026): jobs.nhm.ac.uk/Job/JobDetai...

Sign the petition asking the Government to finally end peat compost sales with legislation in 2026 - no more delays. It’s been a long and tiring road to get peat compost banned and we need your signatures and shares now more than ever to get it done. actnow.peatfreepartnership.org.uk/end-peat-sal...

Sign the petition to end peat sales!

No more delays: Let's get peat out of gardens once and for all. The time for uncertainty has ended.

actnow.peatfreepartnership.org.uk

What a delight to visit fragments of temperate rainforest on Dartmoor. These fragile and fragmented habitats were once much more extensive. Dripping with both rain and bryophytes.

I was so happy to attend the International Association of Bryologists conference in Taiwan last week - Organised by the Taiwan Biodiversity Research Institute and the Taiwan Bryological Society. Interesting presentations, good chat, and some time to get into the mountains to mingle with moss 💚

Journeying home from a fantastic @bbsbryology.bsky.social meeting this weekend - interesting to visit Thorne Moors, an area ravaged by industrial peat extraction which ceased in early 2000s. Conservation management in the region now focused on rewilding and restoring precious peatlands.

This is infuriating. What is the point of a Marine Protected Area if trawlers are allowed to keep ploughing it? Yet again, the government has succumbed to commercial lobbying. www.theguardian.com/environment/...

Bottom trawling to continue in English protected waters, government rules

Defra says blanket ban on ‘destructive’ fishing practice disproportionate as MPs urge minister to reconsider

theguardian.com

Summertime on the allotment 💚

A magnificently illustrated guide to the bryophyte species found across the world. Mosses, Liverworts, and Hornworts of the World by Joanna Wilbraham is out now. Learn more and order your copy of this fascinating book: press.princeton.edu/books/hardco...

It's publication day for Mosses, Liverworts and Hornworts of the World! Immerse yourself in the miniature world of these fascinating plants, delve into their evolutionary past and look ahead to what might be in store for their future. More details at: shorturl.at/Zmtfe

Stands of Fucus serratus (jagged edge) and Fucus vesiculosus (paired bladders) on the white sands of the Brittany coast #Seaweeds

Dense mounds of Leucobryum moss - a joy to see on our walk through humid Oak woodland today 💚

An unprecedented in-depth look at these exquisitely beautiful and often overlooked organisms. Mosses, Liverworts, and Hornworts of the World publishes August 5. Learn more: press.princeton.edu/books/hardco... @jowilbraham.bsky.social‬

New job posting!! We are currently hiring for a new Curator in the Natural History Museum London's Cryptogamic Herbarium. This role will focus around the amazing algae collections ❤️ See link for further info: jobs.nhm.ac.uk/Job/JobDetai... @nhm-london.bsky.social

Curator, Algae :South Kensington

jobs.nhm.ac.uk

And so ends a magnificent week mossing around Frieberg and the Black Forest! Huge thanks to Michael @milueth.bsky.social for leading our excursion and sharing some very special places and plants with us. - BBS excursion to SW Germany @bbsbryology.bsky.social

Today we lunched amongst castle ruins home to four Schistidium species. A good chance to compare, contrast and be confused by this tricky genus. - BBS excursion to SW Germany @bbsbryology.bsky.social

Today, we bryologised atop Feldberg, Germany's highest (after the Alps..) mountain at 1400m. Many wonderful species, with Ptychostomum (Bryum) schleicheri and Bryum weigelii looking particularly sensational. - BBS spring meeting in the Black Forest @bbsbryology.bsky.social

Fantastic to see SO MANY Grimmia species on our trip around SW Germany. These cushions are Grimmia montana. Apparently the female plants of this species (quite rare) typically form more rounded cushions than the flatter males... @bbsbryology.bsky.social

Bryum alpinum in a suitably alpine habitat today up near a ski resort - very nice

Spent a lovely morning on the Rhine pottering over river rocks with three species of Cinclidotus and riverside trees with many nice epiphytes such as this Dialytrichia mucronata @bbsbryology.bsky.social BBS Spring Meeting SW Germany

Today we hiked into the Black Forest on a quest to find Mielichhoferia mielichhoferiana - an ellusive moss restricted to rocks laden with heavy metals @bbsbryology.bsky.social Spring Meeting SW Germany

First day of the BBS meeting in the Schwarzwald region of southern Germany - moss highlight for me was luxorious Rhytidium rugosum in the chalk grassland @bbsbryology.bsky.social

Beautiful encounter with Pasqueflower - Pulsatilla vulgaris - in the Schwarzwald region of southern Germany

Visited a Sphagnum bog this week - there to look at the bryophytes but also fun to check in on the desmid algae situation! These tiny green jewels were hiding in submerged Sphagnum cuspidatum

I was introduced to a tiny moss (new to me) at the weekend on our BBS London group walk over chalk grassland. Seligeria calycina grows directly on the chalk, visible from afar only as small dark brown patches around the edge of pebbles.

Porella platyphylla - a lovely big leafy liverwort, always a nice one to find. We spotted this one on the London BBS local group outing today. Sunshine and liverworts - top day!