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Bryophytes


Sim Elliott
Nov 20, 20249 min read
Low Weald ancient pasture woodland: trees and lichens at Ebernoe Common. 18.11.24
Ebernoe is dominated by old wood pasture where Commoners would have turned out their cattle or pigs to graze and browse on young trees...
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Sim Elliott
Nov 19, 20247 min read
Ancient Woodland of the Surrey Low Weald: Honesland Wood and Staffhurst Wood. 16.11.24
The lure for visiting Staffhurst Wood was reading its SSSI specification which says: The old oak trees support a rich lichen flora...
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Sim Elliott
May 12, 20246 min read
Exploring the diversity of vascular plants, bryophytes, and lichens in Sussex Wildlife Trust's Selwyns Wood. 07.05.24
Selwyns Wood is a small nature reserve south of Cross-in-Hand, near Heathfield, East Sussex. It can be reached by the 29A Brighton & Hove...
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Sim Elliott
Apr 3, 20246 min read
Ashcombe Bottom, East Sussex. Relict ancient woodland on the South Downs. Birds, vascular plants, bryophytes, lichen & fungi. 01.04.21
Ashcombe Bottom, 4km west of Lewes, is one of the very few ancient woodlands left on the East Sussex Downs. Owen Johnson (1998) The...
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Sim Elliott
Mar 28, 20244 min read
Handsome Woollywort and other bryophytes in a High Weald ghyll wood, East Sussex, 25.03.24
This post focusses on the bryophytes of a ghyll wood in the High Weald National Landscape. Common Tamarisk-Moss; Endive Pellia and...
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Sim Elliott
Mar 4, 20244 min read
Butt's Meadow and Babylon Down, Eastbourne. 17.02.24
I reached Butt's Meadow by train and bus from Brighton. I got the train from Brighton to Polegate (4 trains and hour, 2 direct, 2 change...
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Sim Elliott
Feb 25, 20246 min read
Castle Hill Local Nature Reserve, Newhaven. 16.02.24
I reached Castle Hill by bus from Brighton. I got the 12X bus to Newhaven Lower Place (journey time ca. 30 mins; 12: bus; 40 mins; 12A...
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Sim Elliott
Feb 24, 20247 min read
The woodland of Bedelands Farm Local Nature Reserve, Burgess Hill. 09.02.24
I reached Bedelands Farm by train from Brighton. I got the train to Wivelsfield (direct trains, two an hour, journey time 18mins, or...
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Sim Elliott
Dec 31, 20231 min read
JNCC UK Biodiversity Action Plan UK Priority Species - seen in Sussex in 2023
These are the species I saw on the JNCC UK Biodiversity Action Plan UK lists (last updated 2007). These are the species conservation...
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Sim Elliott
Oct 20, 20238 min read
Sheepwash Gill, St Leonard's Forest; relic Atlantic period bryophytes of 5000 years ago. 19.10.23
St. Leonard’s Forest SSSI (84.5 ha) supports remnants of a formerly more extensive deciduous forest on the Tunbridge Wells Sands...
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Sim Elliott
Oct 14, 20235 min read
Two special finds: Dumortier's Liverwort & Epiphytic Polypody Ferns at Fairlight Glen. 14.10.23
I visited Fairlight Glen on 14.10.23 to enjoy its amazing bryophytes and ferns; I was hoping to find Dumortier's Liverwort Dumortiera...
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Sim Elliott
Oct 14, 20236 min read
Rock Wood SSSI, Heron's Ghyll, East Sussex: Bryophytes, Lichen, Ferns & Fungi. 13.10.23
Rock Wood is an SSSI noted for its oceanic bryophytes and it can be reached by the 29 Bus from Brighton; alight at Hendall Gate Farm...
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Sim Elliott
Oct 5, 20239 min read
Wakehurst Woods SSSI, West Sussex: Lichens, Bryophytes & Ferns. 04.10.23
The Wakehurst Woods are part of a larger SSSI: The Wakehurst & Chiddingly Woods SSSI; Wakehurst Woods are to the west of Kew's Wakehurst...
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Sim Elliott
Sep 10, 20238 min read
Northpark Copse, West Sussex. Ancient Chestnut stools & their many Bryophytes 08.09.23.
Northpark Copse is an SSSI but it is not a nature reserve; however there are public footpaths which run through the copse. It is located...
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Sim Elliott
Sep 2, 20236 min read
Worth Church & Worthlodge Forest; a relic of the former Worth royal hunting forest. 01.09.23
Worthlodge Forest is a relic of the former Royal hunting forest of Worth. Worth Forest has a more unified block of near-continuous...
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Sim Elliott
Aug 23, 20239 min read
Coed Lletywalter, Coed Aber Artro, Coed Cymerau Isaf & Coed Garth 16-18.08.23
From the 16th to the 18th of August, whilst on holiday in Porthmadog, I visited four smaller Oak Woodlands. This post contains the...
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Sim Elliott
Aug 23, 202310 min read
Coed Felenrhyd and Llennyrch, Maentwrog, Wales. Wild flowers, ferns, bryophytes & lichens. 15.08.23
Coed Felenrhyd & Llennyrch is a rare, Atlantic oak woodland and one of our largest woods in Wales. It sits above the Vale of Ffestiniog...
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Sim Elliott
Jul 31, 20233 min read
Nap Wood; a High Weald Ghyll Wood, East Sussex. Trees, Fungi, Bryophytes & Lichen. 31.07.23
A wonderful opportunity to walk along an ancient sunken drovers pathway through woodland. The one mile circuitous route takes the walker...
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Sim Elliott
Jul 25, 20235 min read
East Head, West Sussex. Flowering Plants, especially glassworts, Bryophytes and Lichens 24.07.23
Visit one of the last surviving pieces of natural coastline in West Sussex. East Head is an example of the nationally rare and fragile,...
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Sim Elliott
Jul 25, 20238 min read
Eerie Nature. Parasitic & insectivorous plants. Hesworth & Lavington Commons. West Sussex. 17.07.23
North West Sussex, just north of the South Downs, has an area of lowland Wealden greensand heathlands (all called commons). These heaths...
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Sim Elliott
Jul 10, 202312 min read
Heyshott, Ambersham & Graffam Commons; Sussex Lowland Heath and Climate Change. 10.07.23
North West Sussex, just north of the South Downs, has an area of lowland Wealden heathlands (all called commons). Theses heaths are on...
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Sim Elliott
Jul 8, 20236 min read
Ditchling Common. Wild flowers, lichen, bryophytes and butterflies 08.07.23
Ditchling Common is an SSSI with a remarkable range of botanical and insect diversity. I travelled to Ditchling Common Country Park by...
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Sim Elliott
Jul 5, 20234 min read
The flowers, bryophytes, lichen & birds of West Beech Nature Reserve, Littlehampton. 02.07.23
I visited West Beach Nature Reserve by chance. West Beach NR is in the Climping Beech SSSI see: Magic Map Application (defra.gov.uk) I...
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Sim Elliott
Jul 1, 20233 min read
Fore Wood, Crowhurst, East Sussex, and its butterflies, flowers, bryophytes and ferns. 30.06.23
Fore Wood is an RSPB nature reserve just outside Crowhurst. I reached Crowhurst by train from Brighton, via St Leonards Warrior Square....
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Sim Elliott
Jun 23, 20237 min read
Fairlight Glen; from the Dripping Well to the Beach. Ferns, Bryophytes and Lichen. 19.06.23
I visited Fairlight Glen again on 19.06.23. It is in the Hastings County Park, where the High Weald Wealden sandstone meet the sea. It is...
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Sim Elliott
Jun 6, 20234 min read
Wild Flowers and a Bryophyte on the vegetated shingle of Shoreham Beach. 05.06.23
Vegetated shingle is a UK Biodiversity Action Plan Priority Habitat. Shoreham Beach is an outstanding example of vegetated shingle....
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Sim Elliott
Jun 1, 20237 min read
Flowering plants, including grasses, sedges and rushes, on Wolstonbury & Newtimber Hills. 30.05.23
Following attending a Sussex Botanical Recording Society Home - Sussex Botanical Recording Society (sussexflora.org.uk) field trip to St...
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Sim Elliott
May 23, 20238 min read
Lichens, inc. Bunodophoron melanocarpum, & bryophytes in a South East oceanic microclimate. 22.05.23
I made a trip to Eridge Rocks in the High Weald, yesterday; it is one of my favourite sites in Sussex. This Sussex Wildlife Trust reserve...
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Sim Elliott
May 20, 20233 min read
Butterflies, Wild Flowers, Birds, Lichens and Bryophytes. Devil's Dyke and Newtimber Hill. 20.05.23
The Devil's Dyke | Sussex | National Trust and Newtimber Hill Saddlescombe Farm and Newtimber Hill | National Trust are adjacent to each...
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Sim Elliott
May 19, 20238 min read
Scotland 6: Glen Nant. NNR; temperate rain forest. 13.05.23
I got to Glen Nant from Oban by public transport. On the way out, I took the train from Oban to Talynuit. There are only a few services a...
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Sim Elliott
May 18, 20235 min read
Scotland 5: Glasdrum Wood NNR; temperate rain forest, and Chequered Skippers. 12.05.23
I got to Glasdrum from Oban by public transport. I took the West Coast Motors bus 405 to Creagan Bridge. There are on six services from...
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Sim Elliott
May 16, 20234 min read
Scotland 3: The Wildlife of Mull. 10.05.23
I got to Tobermory from Oban by public transport. I took the Caledonian MacBrayne ferry from Oban to Craignure, from where I got a West...
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Sim Elliott
May 15, 20234 min read
Scotland 2: Temperate rain forest fragments around Tobermory, Mull 09.05.23 & 11.05.23
I got to Tobermory from Oban by public transport. I took the Caledonian MacBrayne ferry from Oban to Craignure, from where I got a West...
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Sim Elliott
May 14, 20234 min read
Scotland 1: Dunollie Woods, Oban; temperate rain forest. 08.05.23 & 09.05.23
I went to Oban for six days, to visit some of the west coast of Scotland's Temperate Rain Forests, and to watch birds on Mull and the...
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Sim Elliott
May 7, 20232 min read
Parham Park. Tress, Lichens & Bryophytes; Geology and Needlework Nature. 01.05.23
To visit Parham House and Garden Parham House and Gardens | Elizabethan House | West Sussex : Parham House & Gardens...
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Sim Elliott
Apr 29, 20236 min read
Crowborough Warren, Ashdown Forest & Five Hundred Acre Wood. Plants, Lichen, Bryophytes. 29.04.23
Every year, more than a million people travel to Ashdown Forest to find the North Pole. Ashdown Forest is 40 miles south of London, but...
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Sim Elliott
Apr 13, 202311 min read
Lichens, Bryophytes, Fungi and Wild Flowers at Ebernoe Common. 07.04.23
Ebernoe Common is a low weald heath, ancient wood and wood pasture nature reserve managed by the Sussex Wildlife Trust reserve, north of...
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Sim Elliott
Apr 6, 20237 min read
Brede High Woods. Bryophytes, Lichen, Wild Flowers, Insects and a Brook Lamprey. 03.04.23
Brede High Woods (Woodland Trust) is a wonderful collection of ghyll woods north of Hastings Brede High Woods is home to astonishingly...
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Sim Elliott
Mar 3, 20235 min read
Crowborough Country Park & Crowborough Ghyll. Frogs, Bryophytes & Dinosaurs. 24.02.23
Crowborough Country Park was previously a clay quarry and Crowborough Ghyll is a typical High Weald ghyll wood. Both nature reserves are...
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Sim Elliott
Feb 26, 20237 min read
The Mens Nature Reserve, West Sussex: Trees, Landscape, Bryophytes, Lichens and Fungi. 20.02.23
The Mens is an extraordinary landscape; it is a nature reserve maintained by the Sussex Wildlife Trust. The unusual name ... comes from...
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Sim Elliott
Feb 16, 20237 min read
Kingley Vale: Yews, Epiphytes, Fungi and The Devil's Humps. 11.02.23
Kingley Vale is a National Nature Reserve famous for its historic Yews. I visit Kingley Vale regularly. Its yews, other trees, and short...
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Sim Elliott
Feb 15, 20234 min read
Fairlight Glen; a ghyll wood and its bryophytes. Hastings Country Park. 07 & 10.02.23
I visited Fairlight Glen twice in one week in order to explore it's bryophytes. My initial motivation was to see if I could find...
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Sim Elliott
Jan 31, 202310 min read
Lichen, Bryophytes & Fungi. Marline Valley Nature Reserve, Hastings. 31.01.22
Marline Valley is a wonderful mix of semi-natural ancient woodland, unimproved meadows and a classic Sussex ghyll stream situated on the...
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Sim Elliott
Jan 26, 20234 min read
Lichens, Bryophytes, Fungi and Birds. Waterhall Nature Reserve & The Devil's Dyke. 23.01.23
Over the weekend a local lichenologist saw a String of Sausages, Usnea aticulata, following a fellow member of the British Lichen Society...
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Sim Elliott
Jan 21, 20233 min read
Eridge Rocks: A wonderland of lichen, fungi, moss, liverworts and slime moulds. 04.01.23
This was the second time I have visited Eridge Rocks. It is easy to get to by bus from Brighton; take the 29 29 - Brighton-Tunbridge...
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Sim Elliott
Jan 20, 20235 min read
Eridge Park (SSSI) East Sussex; Lichen, Bryophytes, Fungi and Landscape. 23.12.22
Eridge Park is a Site of Special Scientific Interest, to the east of Eridge Green Rock, south of Tunbridge Wells. The landscape is shaped...
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Sim Elliott
Dec 9, 20223 min read
Markstakes Common & Chailey Commons. Tress, Fungi, Bryophytes, Lichen and Slime Molds. 06.12.22
I visited Markstakes Common, South Chailey (a Woodland Trust site) (not one of the 5 Chailey Commons) for the first time on 06.11.22, I...
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Sim Elliott
Dec 7, 20228 min read
Church Wood LNR & Marline Valley NR, Hastings. Woods, Ghylls, Fungi, Lichen & Bryophytes. 05.12.22
I reached Church Wood from Brighton by getting a train to Hasting Station and then the 20 bus to the bus stop on Tile Barn Road, close to...
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Sim Elliott
Nov 29, 20225 min read
Hargate Forest & Tunbridge Wells Common: Rocks, Fungi, Lichen & Bryophytes 28.11.22
Hargate Forest is just south of Tunbridge Wells. I reached the forest by the 29 bus from Brighton. Alight the bus at the Broadwater Down...
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Sim Elliott
Nov 27, 20223 min read
Harrison Rocks/Birchden Wood. Fungi, Lichen, Moss, Liverworts & Slime Mold. 26.11.22
Harrison Rocks (British Mountaineering Council are the western edge of Birchden Wood (Forestry England); which is west of Eridge (East...
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