Action Plan: Water Rock-bristle

Water rock-bristle (Seligeria carniolica) is a minute moss growing in solitary to expansive patches up to 3-4 cm high. This small moss has very long thin leaves looking like tufts of dark green or blackish hair. It grows mainly on periodically or permanently moist, shaded, calcareous rocks in or near streams in small ravines, growing up to an altitude of about 100 m. Water Rock Bristle has been recorded in Austria, France, Germany, Switzerland, Yugoslavia, Norway, Romania and Sweden. The Water Rock Bristle is currently only known from a single site in Great Britain and is subsequently classified as Critically Endangered. Preservation of this one community in Northumberland will inevitably be a challenge to conservationists.