Sphagnum angustifolium
Sphagnum henryense
fine bogmoss, poor-fen peat-moss, sphagnum
Henry's sphagnum
leaves equilateral to isosceles-triangular, small, less than 0.8 mm, mostly appressed to stem, apex acute to obtuse, hyaline cells efibrillose and nonseptate.
leaves to 1.9 × 1 mm; rarely hemiisophyllous;
hyaline cells non-ornamented, nonseptate or septate.
straight to slightly curved, usually 5-ranked;
leaves not much longer at distal end than proximal end.
± tapering to a point, leaves spreading to moderately imbricate.
narrowly ovate-lanceolate, 0.8–1 mm, straight, moderately undulate and recurved in larger and/or wetter grown forms, not undulate and slightly recurved in compact forms from drier sites;
margins entire;
hyaline cells on convex surface with 1(2–3) pore per cell at apical end of cell, on concave surface with round wall thinnings in cell ends and angles; chlorophyllous cells triangular in transverse section and just enclosed on concave surface.
ovate, to 2.7 × 1 mm;
hyaline cells on convex surface with numerous small round pores along the commissures, cell walls overlying chlorophyll cells often with a network of irregular worm like ridges although they may be lacking; chlorophyllous cells isosceles-triangular to narrowly ovate triangular in transverse section and just enclosed on convex surface,end wall not thickened.
dioicous.
dioicous.
with numerous pseudostomata.
21–25 µm; coarsely papillose on proximal and distal surfaces;
proximal laesura more than 0.5 spore radius.
24–29 µm;
surface finely papillose to nearly smooth.
fascicles with 2 spreading and 2–3 pendent branches.;
branch stems with cortex enlarged with conspicuous retort cells, often pinkish red at proximal end.
fascicles with 2 spreading and 2 pendent branches.;
branch stems with hyaline cells non-ornamented; funnel-like projections absent from interior end walls, large round pores on superficial walls.
Sphagnum angustifolium
Sphagnum henryense
The sporophytes of Sphagnum angustifolium are somewhat common. This species is distinguished from similar ones in sect. Cuspidata by the small, triangular, obtuse and appressed stem leaves. It also often has a pink stem, as opposed to the reddish branch bases seen in some other species of the section. Sphagnum balticum has stem leaves that are more lingulate-triangular as well as spreading from the stem. Sphagnum angustifolium belongs to a subgroup within sect. Cuspidata usually referred to as S. recurvum, in the broad sense, a group of mostly carpet-forming species that differ from other members of the section in having pairs of pendent branch buds visible between the capitulum rays. The group also includes S. brevifolium, S. fallax, S. flexuosum, S. pacificum, S. recurvum, S. rubroflexuosum, and S. splendens.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
The typical form of Sphagnum henryense is a large plant with a quite flat capitulum with a small terminal bud. Microscopically, typical material has distinct ridges on the branch leaf hyaline cells and relatively small and round pores on the branch leaf hyaline cell convex surface. Sphagnum palustre, which has the same branch leaf chlorophyll cell cross section, typically has smooth hyaline cell walls and hyaline cell pores that are larger and more elliptical in shape. However, Sphagnum species are plastic phenotypically and it is common to find plants that cannot be reliably assigned to either S. henryense or S. palustre. For example, some species of Sphagnum that are relatively easy to distinguish on other characteristics, such as S. papillosum, S. alaskense and S. affine, may occasionally completely lack any hyaline cell ornamentation or display it in reduced form. Since these can be distinguished on other characters, the species are still readily identifiable, but when S. henryense lacks the ornamentation, there is no other solid character to distinguish it from S. palustre. Thus, although we can find material from both North American coasts that has good ornamentation (R. E. Andrus 1980), there is much other material that looks in other respects like S. henryense but lacks the ornamentation. Barring taxonomy beyond microscopic examination, many collections of henryense/palustre will of necessity not be absolutely identifiable. Where their ranges overlap, mixed stands may often be found. We believe that the species are still good, but accurate delimitation of their distinctive ecologies and ranges will be very problematic.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
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- Local floras: BC
- Local Web sites: CalFlora, CalPhotos, Flora NW, IL Wildflowers,
LA Plants, MD Biodiversity, MI Flora, MO Plants, PNW Herbaria - WildflowerSearch
- iNaturalist (observations)
- USDA Plants Database
- LBJ Wildflower Center
- SEINet
- Plants of the World Online
- Encyclopedia of Life
- Wikipedia
- Google Image Search
