Bonfire Moss

One of the attractions of taking part in conservation tasks like scrub-bashing is the bonfire.  There has been quite a lot of scrub-bashing on the Steyning Downland Scheme, especially on Steyning Coombe, so there are a few bonfire sites.  Bonfire Moss, Funaria hygrometrica is a common early colonist of bare ground and is partial to old bonfires.  I found this clump on one yesterday, still shiny with dew.  It is easy to identify because it is usually covered in a forest of swan-necked setae with big capsules which seem out of all proportion to the size of the tiny moss plants that are carrying them.  It makes sense though, because early colonisers of temporary sites like this need to produce lots of spores quickly in order to disperse and re-establish somewhere else before they are swamped by later arrivals.