Around Llanfihangel Nant Bran

We set out to record an area that has had over 200 species recorded in the past; but none since 2000; yesterday.
It took us up to the common above Llanfihangel and up the Nant Bran. I was preoccupied with making more than 250 records so it is mainly thanks to Sue that there are pictures of the great views and plants we saw.

Field-rose, Rhosyn gwyllt gwyn or Rosa arvensis

(still readily identifiable at this time of year from the long style remnant)

Hop Trefoil, Meillionen hopysaidd or Trifolium campestre
No - Black Medick or Medicago lupulina as pointed out by Dave in comments!

Red Bartsia, Gorudd or Odontites vernus

The Beacons in the distance

We also saw a wide range of Waxcap fungi on the high common including this one:

Pink Waxcap or Ballerina Waxcap, Hygrocybe calyptriformis

Inspecting another Waxcap:

When nearly back at the car we inspected some hillside springs and found several boggy ground specialists including this which I photographed:

Fen Bedstraw, Briwydd y fign or Galium uliginosum
(NOT Marsh-bedstraw, Briwydd y gors or Galium palustre as previously posted - thanks Julian!)

(We did see both that day.)

In all there were 156 different species recorded. (And as some of the 200+ records mentioned at the beginning haven't been seen since the 1970s that is doing OK I think.)

Brecon Gaer

We explored around the Roman Fort Remains near Brecon last week.

We found plenty eg in this ditch by the ramparts of the fort.

And some plants were intrepidly clinging on to the Roman Walls like this Musk Mallow (photographed by Sue):

Musk-mallow, Hocysen fwsg or Malva moschata

But only a few botanical pictures were taken!

Reed Canary-grass, Pefrwellt or Phalaris arundinacea

Wych Elm, Llwyfen lydanddail or Ulmus glabra

Musk-mallow again, Hocysen fwsg or Malva moschata and Photographer

The field within the camp had several patches of Blackening Waxcaps - this is the first we saw:

Blackening Wax Cap or Hygrocybe conica var conica

And Bev's pictures here show the variation as they blacken.

Pictures of the Fort, Usk and Afon Ysgir:

And here is the panorama as a video.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------

Bristly Oxtongue, Tafod-y-llew gwrychog or Helminthotheca echioides (was Picris echioides)

Found by Anne from our botany group last week month between Llangattock and Gilwern.

Just some squares near Tirabad

I noticed this area hadn't been recorded before so we set off to explore - it's actually getting quite close to our western border. The map showed forestry and farmland mixed and we ended up with a good long list of species after walking the roads, forestry tracks and farm lanes.

These pictures from Sue illustrate the variation you see in Common Hemp-nettle - which was abundant in the area.

Common Hemp-nettle,
Y benboeth
or
Galeopsis tetrahit

Generally we saw things that like wet places where you might not expect them - implying a very high rainfall for the area (which was backed up by more rain on the day than we felt the forecast had predicted). This is one I was photographing as it was an elegant specimen.

Redshank,
Y ganwraidd goesgoch
or
Persicaria maculosa

There was plenty of Water-pepper as well.

And in one of the forestry sections we saw several of these:

Fly Agaric
or
Amanita muscaria

There were large ones near the path and we could see them right into the depth of the wood that were "younger".