Sphagnum leaf images

This morning I came across an old packet containing a Sphagnum sp that I had collected a couple of years ago on Dartmoor. Whilst I didn't manage an identification, I was captivated by the cell structure (I think this might be the first time I've looked at a Sphagnum under the microscope for 20 years.  The structure was clear enough in a normal water-drop slide, but use of an old bottle of NBS's Light Green Aqueous really brought out the contrast between the cell walls and the cytoplasm. My microscope camera didn't handle the green tint very well, 

Whole leaf, x40

but monochrome photographs proved to be excellent

Whole leaf, x40

At 100x depth of field became a little bit of an issue, but some great images of the leaf tip and leaf base

And finally the mid-leaf at x400

Neckera complanata

Today I have been looking at a little fragment of moss I collected in Branscombe, Devon, in early July. It was one of several collected together from a shaded bank along the side of a bridleway, with thin soil and loose flints. 

Here it is at x10 from my dissecting microscope

I keyed it out using Watson's British Mosses and Liverworts but when I looked at the photos in the BBS field guide I remembered I had previously collected this species in Branscombe. On looking at my herbarium packet, I could see similarities, but I was unsure because it lacked the thread-like wispy branches that are seen in the BBS guide photo, although this fragment was a lot smaller.

However, microscopic identification was pretty certain, based on leaf shape and cells sizes. 

Here is a composite of the leaf at 100x, put together in GIMP. 

Clearly, you can see the joins, so I've got some work to do to learn how to adjust the exposures and colours, and annoyingly by the time I was taking these photos a bubble was growing at the side of the leaf 😞. However, I'm pretty pleased with it. Having paid a little bit more to have built-in cameras in my microscopes, I think I should get on and use them to make some reference pictures. I was glad to be able to compare these with some here: https://www.gbif.org/occurrence/gallery?taxon_key=2678588 to confirm the identification.

Now I have another four to identify from that same collection ...

Seaweeds on a groyne on a North Norfolk beach

 

This is between Cart Gap and Happisburgh  (the pronunciation of Happisburgh is a Norfolk shibboleth ... if you don't know, I'm not going to tell you 😉)

DIY microscope case

 Last year, just before the pandemic began in earnest in the UK, I bought a dissecting stereo microscope (it was my birthday present from M). I went for the SX10D from Brunel Microscopes which has an built-in camera and x10, x20 and x40 magnification. I had read that dissecting moss leaves was much easier using a stereomicroscope and now I wonder how I ever coped without it.

One of the attractions of the SX10 was that Brunel were selling a travel case and so when I ordered it I also ordered a case. However, the case was out of stock and between the pandemic slowing imports from China and the general slow-down in shipping in the UK I still don't have the case some 15 months later. I should make it clear that I don't in any way blame Brunel for this - I really recommend them for microscopy supplies in the UK and I bought another microscope from them this year (though that's a whole other story). 

With the summer holidays fast approaching I long to be able to take my 'scope with me so that I can look more promptly at the mosses I collect and (I hope) be able to get back out and practise spotting and naming them. Time to build my own case!

As a first step I looked at making a traditional flight case (plywood with protective metal trims). Whilst this was an attractive project, my workshop facilities are a bit limited, so I decided to go for a Really Useful Box fitted out with foam. When shopping for foam I discovered shadow foam 😀.

I purchased a 19L Really Useful Box from a local supplier and some 5cm deep shadow foam (black and green) from Amazon. The first step was to cut a suitable rectangle from the foam sheet that would fit snuggly in the bottom of the box. The shadow foam can be cut with a sharp utility knife and is very easy to work with. 

The next step was to place the microscope onto the foam and cut around it with the knife. The shape could then be peeled out.

I cut and peeled a second layer at the base and at the top, to get a tighter, deeper fit, leaving the middle section at the first cut height to support the arm and focus knobs. 

This felt pretty snug without any further adjustment and left at least 2cm of foam in place underneath. After checking the fit with the dust cover I then began to cut out other portions around the edge to fit accessories. 

I made space to secure the power cord, the USB cable (links the camera to a PC), as well as the removable base and a petri dish to hold specimens. 

Unfortunately I cut the petri dish space a little close to the edge, and the top surface of the foam split to the edge. However, once fitted into the box, this wasn't a problem.

I was able to fit all equipment into the box and leave a clear 2 cm at the top to allow for deformation of the lid under load. 

For extra stability I used an offcut of the foam (split horizontally) to wedge the base, and there was even room for Watson's flora in the side. I wondered if perhaps I should have left space for Smith's flora, but that would really be overkill for taking on holiday, I think. Anything needing that level of checking can wait until I get home. 

Overall, I'm really pleased with the finished case. I will have to pack dissection tools separately, but the total cost here was just a little less than I had expected to pay for the case and the foam was so easy to work with that I managed to complete the whole thing between putting T to bed and supper being ready. The only "problem" is that I now have two and half large sheets of green and black shadow foam left over. But I'm sure they'll find a use.

Racomitrium lanuginosum

I have been working my way through some old collections of mosses and came to a packet containing a mixture of species from a dry stone wall on Dartmoor. 

I am thrilled with Racomitrium lanuginosum: such a beautiful moss! When dry, there are distinct white hairpoints to the leaves, though these become more or less transparent as the leaves hydrate, but the hair point is coarsely toothed, which is a diagnostic feature for this moss. 

I managed to produce this composite image of one of its large leaves at x40

And then some details at higher magnifications

 And then some details at higher magnifications. 

Here is the toothed margin of the leaf tip at x100

I still have some way to go in getting to grips with the build-in cameras on my microscopes - but I am pleased at the least to capture something of what I see. In the same session I also managed to get this x400 image of Dicranum scoparium. I particularly like the way this image captures the granular nature of the cell contents, the vacuoles and the plasmodemata.

Potatoes

Our first potatoes are in - Maris Peer. Another second early and a main crop to follow when I've got two more beds ready ... time for some more digging!

Escape

So finally the "stay at home" order is lifted and we have been able to escape the town at last! T and I didn't go far, only about 10 miles to Wisley Common, which was quite quiet (in contrast to RHS Wisley across the road, where a very large number of car windscreens were glittering in the sunshine).

The only sad thing was that a lot of other people have suddenly started driving on the roads again. I think that possibly some have not been driving at all for the last three months, and have forgotten key parts of the rules, like not driving in the middle lane when the inside lane is clear 😡.