Meeting report

For once, no storms or heavy rain were forecast and an expectant group of nine gathered at the entrance to the new Dorset Wildlife Trust reserve of Lyscombe ready for a pleasant day’s bryologising. Lyscombe is a 335ha farmland reserve near Piddletrenthide in the heart of Dorset. The site, purchased in 2024 in partnership with Natural England, encompasses land already designated as important for wildlife, including a 59ha SSSI, SNCI and Scheduled Ancient Monuments, as well as a much larger area of typical farmland. The chalk grassland SSSI forms a large horseshoe-shaped bowl of steep downland, with pockets of ancient woodland. Another parcel of downland forming a dry valley a little south of the bowl has a mainly north-west aspect.

It was decided that parking near the north end of the reserve would provide better access to the woodlands. Having reassembled near Plush, the group made its way to an ancient trackway up to the chalk ridge. Before getting there, we stopped to have a look at an arable field with a chalky clay substrate. The edges had a community dominated by Barbula unguiculata, Dicranella howei, Tortula acaulon, Microbryum davallianum var. conicum, Bryum dichotomum and some typically wispy and untidy stems of Brachythecium mildeanum. Amongst the Tortula, Sharon spotted the tiny but unmistakable rusty brown plants of M. floerkeanum which was a new species to several members of the group. This is usually considered a plant to look for in the autumn but perhaps because of the mild weather it was still evident and several nice clusters were found. On the trackway up the hill, there was a reduced but classic chalk flora on the banks and track edges, including Ctenidium molluscum, Mesoptychia turbinata, a little Homalothecium lutescens and Campylium chrysophyllum. The best find, again made by Sharon, was a small patch of Brachythecium glareosum.

When the group finally made it to the top of the slope, they were greeted by a magnificent view of Lyscombe reserve to the south, with far reaching views (the downs of the Isle of Wight could just be made out). Sadly, the grassland along the south-facing scarp slopes was in poor condition, as it had not been properly grazed for some years. The undoubtedly rich vascular flora could be seen amongst the dense and tussocky grassland, but for the most part the bryophytes were lost under a thick thatch of grass. Diligent searching found a few mosses, such as non-fruiting Weissia, Dicranella howei and Didymodon fallax, on a small track and beneath some eroded anthills. However, some serious ‘restoration grazing’ would be needed in order to bring the slopes back to their full glory.

Along the bottom of the slope were some excellent ash-field maple woodlands. We had our lunch below the spreading branches of a glorious ancient maple, whose limbs were festooned with Homalothecium sericeum and Porella platyphylla. Searching the woods soon provided Scurio-hypnum populeum, Cirriphyllum crassinervium and Anomodon viticulosus, as well as much Neckera complanata and a little N. pumila. Later checking of gemmae, confirmed that some of the clumps of Zygodon on the large ashes were Z. rupestris. One of the special aspects of the woods was the flint pebbles that were scattered across the ground. These had their own distinctive flora, with Heterocladium flaccidum forming a dense covering on some stones, in one area there was Lophocolea fragrans on several stones and Taxiphyllum wissgrillii was also found. As we came out of the woods and started to head back up the slope we came across a couple of large open-grown ash trees, sadly, like many on the reserve, they were on their last legs from ash dieback. One had a good patch of Neckera smithii on its trunk and another had an extensive colony of Leucodon sciuroides, which was much admired. Near the top of the slope a scrubby area of ash woodland had some chalk rocks on its woodland floor which had a coating of Seligeria calycina. In total we had recorded around 75 species during the day.

We made our way back to cars, stopping to admire the panoramic views across the reserve. We even spotted in the distance the first longhorn cattle that had been released onto the reserve just that morning. Let us hope that they are the first of many more livestock to grace this wonderful reserve, which holds so much potential.

Andrew Branson 16/12/2024