Bryum weigelii
Col Agnel
Bryum weigelii is a typical Bryum of flushed habitats in the mountains, where it often forms swollen cushions or mats around spring. The plants shown here are pink but the species is often green.
Diagnostic features of this species are a combination of longly-decurrent leaves with an obtuse apex but which lack a distinct border, a lack of capsules and its semi-aquatic environment.
B.weigelii is well-recorded from the French Alps, often from high altitude.
Diagnostic features of this species are a combination of longly-decurrent leaves with an obtuse apex but which lack a distinct border, a lack of capsules and its semi-aquatic environment.
B.weigelii is well-recorded from the French Alps, often from high altitude.
Bryum schleicheri
Col Agnel
Bryum schleicheri occurs in similar habitats to B.weigelii (see above). Like its close cousin, it usually lacks capsules, but is vegetatively distinctive. It shares the obtuse leaves of B.weigelii but these are scarcely decurrent and have a well-developed border of longer cells.
The species is usually a typical yellowish-green, like many Bryums, but it can also be pink.
B.schleicheri has a similar distribution in the French Alps to B.weigelii, but seems to be more common, based on records in the literature.
The species is usually a typical yellowish-green, like many Bryums, but it can also be pink.
B.schleicheri has a similar distribution in the French Alps to B.weigelii, but seems to be more common, based on records in the literature.
Bryum algovicum var.algovicum
Col Agnel
Col du Galibier
Bryum creberrimum
Lac Blanchet Inferieur, Saint-Veran
This rare species is described with its close and more common cousin, B.pallescens, in the Bryophytes of Maritime Alps section of the site.
Pohlia cruda
Col Agnel
This common montane Pohlia is described in the Mosses of Ben Lawers NNR section of the site.
Pohlia greenii
Col Lacroix
Text coming soon!
Amblyodon dealbatus
Col Lacroix
Amblyodon is a member of a specialised community of mosses that are found in flushed, calcareous habitats, often on mountain slopes. This community is very rare in Britain (especially outside the Scottish Highlands), and so for many bryologists (like me), a trip to the Alps offers a much better chance of seeing these interesting species.
Amblyodon often occurs mixed with Oncophorus and Meesia species, and can be almost 'invisible' unless its very characteristic capsules are present. These are rather short and plump and distinctly asymmetrical.
Microscopically, Amblyodon is very distinctive, with large, hexagonal leaf cells reminiscent of a Bryum species, and serrate leaf margins. The stems also have dark purple rhizoids.
Amblyodon often occurs mixed with Oncophorus and Meesia species, and can be almost 'invisible' unless its very characteristic capsules are present. These are rather short and plump and distinctly asymmetrical.
Microscopically, Amblyodon is very distinctive, with large, hexagonal leaf cells reminiscent of a Bryum species, and serrate leaf margins. The stems also have dark purple rhizoids.
Bartramia ithyphylla
above Refuge de la Blanche, Saint-Veran
This widespread species is common in the French Alps, where it inhabits dry soil crevices in sunny habitats. Unlike in Britain, where it is often a base-loving species, it appears rather indifferent of soil chemistry in France. B.ithyphylla is happy at high altitudes in the French Alps, whereas its cousin, B.pomiformis, only ascends to subalpine elevations in France.
This species is described more in the Mosses of Derbyshire section of the site.
ravine above Lac Foreant
This species is described more in the Mosses of Derbyshire section of the site.
ravine above Lac Foreant
Philonotis tomentella
Col Agnel
It's a terrible photo, but the only one I currently have of P. tomentella, which is a frequent species of wet, calcareous slopes in the French Alps.
Pterigynandrum filiforme
Col Agnel
This widespread montane species is described in the Bryophytes of the Maritime Alps section of the site.
Lescuraea incurvata
Lacs Blanchet, Saint-Veran (both photos)
Text coming soon!
N side of Col du Galibier, Savoie
N side of Col du Galibier, Savoie
Lescuraea radicosa
Col Vieux
Text coming soon!
Lescuraea plicata (syn. Ptychodium plicatum)
Col Lacroix, Queyras
This species is described in the Mosses of Ben Lawers section of the site.
S side of Col du Galibier, Hautes-Alpes
S side of Col du Galibier, Hautes-Alpes
Palustriella commutata
between Col Vieux & Lac Foreant, Queyras
This widespread species is described in the Bryophytes of other areas of northern England section of the site.
Palustriella falcata
S side of Col du Galibier, Hautes-Alpes
This widespread species is described in the Bryophytes of other areas of northern England section of the site.
Palustriella decipiens
Col Agnel
This species is described in the Bryophytes of Savoie section of the site.
Sanionia uncinata
Route des Astragales, Chateau-Vielle-Ville
While Sanionia is very common above the tree-line in mountain pastures in the French Alps, it also grows at lower elevations in open woodland, as here, where it was fruiting abundantly.
This species is described in the Mosses of Derbyshire section of the site.
N side of Col du Galibier, Savoie
This species is described in the Mosses of Derbyshire section of the site.
N side of Col du Galibier, Savoie
Brachythecium glareosum
Lacs Blanchet, Saint-Veran
This variable species is one of the commonest Brachytheciums in the French Alps, being found in the lowlands and at high altitude.
Crete de Gilly
Crete de Gilly
Brachythecium salebrosum
Col Vieux
Another widespread Brachythecium, B.salebrosum is somewhat more montane than B.glareosum.
N side of Col du Galibier, Savoie
N side of Col du Galibier, Savoie
Brachythecium tauriscorum
Lacs Blanchet area, Saint-Veran
Text coming soon.
Brachytheciastrum collinum
above Lacs Blanchet, Saint-Veran
This species is described in the Bryophytes of Savoie section of the site.
Hypnum revolutum
Col Vieux
Lacs Blanchet area, Saint-Veran, Queyras
S side of Col du Galibier, Hautes-Alpes
This beautiful Hypnum is a common moss of dry, calcareous turf and outcrops in many parts of the Alps. I've described it in more detail in the Mosses of Ben Lawers section of the site.
with Saxifraga oppositifolia & Lescuraea sp, Col Lacroix
S side of Col du Galibier, Hautes-Alpes
with Saxifraga oppositifolia & Lescuraea sp, Col Lacroix
S side of Col du Galibier, Hautes-Alpes
Abietinella abietina
Route des Astragales
Text coming soon!
Hygrohypnum luridum
Lacs Blanchet, Saint-Veran
By far the most widespread Hygrohypnum in the French Alps, H.luridum is also well-recorded from the Queyras.
in habitat on dripping crag
in habitat on dripping crag
Orthothecium intricatum
Lacs Blanchet, Saint-Veran, Queyras
S side of Col du Galibier, Hautes-Alpes
Only two Orthotheciums are recorded from the Queyras and this is very much the more common. The plants here are distinctly red, but not the intense red of O.rufescens, the other species found in the Queyras, where it appears rare and also restricted to somewhat lower altitudes.
This species is described in the Mosses of Derbyshire section of the site.
This species is described in the Mosses of Derbyshire section of the site.
Conostomum tetragonum
below Lacs Blanchet, Saint-Veran
Gymnostomum aeruginosum
below Col du Galibier, Hautes-Alpes
Text coming soon!
This species is described in the Bryophytes of other areas of northern England section of the site.
This species is described in the Bryophytes of other areas of northern England section of the site.