A blooming bog

Just south of Forest Row there is a nice bit of Molinia bog which has a good range of bryophytes, as I discovered when I visited it with Tom Ottley a couple of years ago. It is also on my regular dog-walking route, though today I found a few species of vascular plants which, though common enough on the Forest, I’d not actually seen here before.

First up was Salix aurita (Eared Willow), growing right in the middle of the flush feeding into the Kid brook.

A hundred metres south where there was less Molinia there six spikes of Narthecium ossifragum (Bog Asphodel), growing with Erica tetralix (Cross-leaved Heath).

There were also good-sized patches of Juncus acutiflorus (Sharp-flowered Rush) all flowering and looking quite stunning. And even more so under the microscope.

I couldn’t ignore the mosses. It is a good spot for Aulacomnium palustre and Sphagnum papillosum, with even some of the rarer Sphagnum molle if you look hard. However, today’s mossy picture is the rather stunning red cushion of Sphagnum capillifolium.