I have been given a pair of wooden half-barrels and intend to use one for alpines. Accordingly I have filled one with a free-draining compost and will hopefully acquire some suitable plants shortly. In the meantime I have purchased some sempervivum plants for another pot. Most sempervivums currently on offer are varieties of Sempervivum tectorum, a species commonly known as the House Leek. The epithet tectorum is derived from the Latin word for a rooftop and the plants were often grown on house roofs in the belief that they would ward off lightning. In one pot was a flourishing little colony of the Common Cord-moss, Funaria hygrometrica.
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A pot of Sempervivums showing bonfire moss together with some
liverwort spilling over the edge. 7 January, 2020
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It is sometimes called 'bonfire moss' because, apart from being a pest in plant nurseries is often colonises the site of a recent bonfire - why I have no idea. Its leaf cells are particularly large and partly for this reason, added to the fact that specimens are usually easy to find, it is a popular species for use in elementary study of botany (and of course bryology in particular).
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| A closer view showing the capsule ('fruit') on long setae. |
The bonus liverwort was, almost predictably, the very common Marchantia polymorpha. Like the moss, it may be of some interest to the bryologist but is a real nuisance around plant nurseries and in greenhouses. On the flat thallus cup-shaped structures are visible and in these the shiny green gemmae will develop. These are reproductive but purely vegetative structures which are probably splashed out of the cups by raindrops.
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On the flat green thallus of a liverwort the slightly darker gemma
cups can be clearly seen.. 7 January, 2020
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I will need to carefully go over the pots of sempervivums prior to planting in order to remove all traces of moss and liverwort. Happy days!
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