Identification notes
Like a number of other bryophytes, this one has more than one main habitat. It is a humidity-demanding species and sheltered valley or ravine woodlands in western areas will often have a substantial population on trees and boulders. It’s usually easily picked out from F. dilatata by its glossiness (when dry) and by the way the shoots grow away from the substrate.
In open situations in the far west and near the sea, F. tamarisci often also grows on boulders and can get quite large, approaching the size of the scarcer F. teneriffae. It’s not always easy to see the tell-tale line of pale cells (the ocelli) in the leaves of F. tamarisci but F. teneriffae doesn’t have them and is a dull, not shiny plant.
F. tamarisci also quite often grows in calcareous grassland on sheltered slopes. Where it occurs in a diverse, bryophyte-rich association, sometimes with Scapania aspera or Porella arboris-vitae, it is known as the Southern Hepatic Mat, or Scapanietum asperae. This association is local in Wales and rare in southern England.
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