Masonry Bryophytes

It is surprisingly hard to find older masonry and concrete in the Comox Valley. There are old mineworks but they are deeply shaded, and most of the cement walls seem to be pressure washed. I've been trying to learn urban mosses lately and there are a large group of them that tend to show up on stone walls, concrete and mortar. Wilf Schofield's Some Common Mosses of British Columbia lists the following taxa as common in these environments:

Auloacomnium androgynum
Bryum argenteum *
Bryum/Ptychostomum capillaire *
Ceratodon purpureus
Dicranoweisia cirrata *
Didymodon insulans ?
Didymodon/Vinealobryum vinealis*
Funaria hygrometrica
Grimmia pulvinata*
Orthotrichum lyellii (= Pulvigera papillosum or P. pringlei)
Racomitrium canascens / Racomitrium elongatum
Racomitrium heterostichum
Tortula muralis *
Syntrichia princeps * (?)
Syntrichia ruralis

I have put (*) to denote taxa seen on this church wall, which I think dates to 1939. (?) connotes things I think I may have seen but I am not sure. Also seen and placed amongst the observations from the wall below were Homalothecium nutalii and something that I think is Gemmabryum barnesii

Posted on March 16, 2022 08:15 PM by rambryum