Sphagnum angustifolium |
Sphagnum palustre |
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fine bogmoss, poor-fen peat-moss, sphagnum |
blunt-leaf bogmoss, blunt-leaf peat-moss, prairie sphagnum |
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Habit | Plants small and often slender and soft, lax to compact, moderately stiff-stemmed; green to pale yellow to golden brown to brown; capitulum strongly convex in drier grown forms to strongly 5-radiate and flat in wetter growing forms. | Plants moderate-sized to robust, strong-stemmed, lax to somewhat compact, capitulum somewhat flattened to more typically compact and rounded; green to golden brown to pale brown with often a pinkish tinge; carpets to more or less compact, low to moderate sized hummocks. |
Stem(s) | 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 1.7 × 1 mm, occasionally longer; rarely hemiisophyllous; hyaline cells non-ornamented, nonseptate. |
Branches | straight to slightly curved, usually 5-ranked; leaves not much longer at distal end than proximal end. |
long and tapering, leaves ± imbricate to spreading in shade forms. |
Branch leaves | 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. |
broadly ovate, 2.2 × 1.3 mm, hyaline cells non-ornamented, convex surface with elliptic pores along the commissures, chlorophyllous cells isosceles-triangular to ovate-triangular in transverse section and just enclosed to just exposed on the convex surface; end wall not thickened. |
Sexual condition | dioicous. |
dioicous. |
Capsule | with numerous pseudostomata. |
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Spores | 21–25 µm; coarsely papillose on proximal and distal surfaces; proximal laesura more than 0.5 spore radius. |
24–33 µm, surface finely papillose to smooth, distal surface with distinct bifurcated Y-mark sculpture; proximal laesura more than 0.6 spore radius. |
Branch | 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; no or weak funnel-like projections on the interior end walls, often with 1 large pore per cell on superficial cell walls. |
Sphagnum angustifolium |
Sphagnum palustre |
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Phenology | Capsules mature mid to late summer. | |
Habitat | Wide range of habitats, from ombrotrophic to rich fens, open mires, sedge fens and muskeg, as carpets, floating mats, low hummocks and hummock sides | Widespread in forested fens and poor to rich sedge fens |
Elevation | low to high elevations | low to moderate elevations |
Distribution |
AK; CA; CO; ID; IL; IN; MA; MD; ME; MI; MN; MO; MT; NC; ND; NH; NJ; NY; OH; OR; PA; UT; VA; VT; WA; WI; WV; WY; AB; BC; MB; NB; NF; NS; NT; ON; QC; SK; YT; Greenland; Eurasia
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AL; AR; CA; CT; DE; FL; GA; IA; IL; IN; KY; LA; MA; MD; ME; MI; MN; MO; MS; NC; NH; NJ; NY; OH; OK; OR; PA; SC; TN; TX; VA; VT; WA; WI; WV; BC; NB; NF; NS; ON; PE; QC; Europe; Pacific Islands
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Discussion | 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.) |
Sphagnum palustre may occur elsewhere than listed above, but the taxonomy is unclear. In some open-grown situations, it may have a reddish tinge and seem similar to S. magellanicum, but this is a pinkish red color rather than the purplish red of the latter. See discussions under 5. S. henryense and 9. S. papillosum for distinction from those species. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Source | FNA vol. 27, p. 64. | FNA vol. 27, p. 53. |
Parent taxa | Sphagnaceae > Sphagnum > sect. Cuspidata | Sphagnaceae > Sphagnum > sect. Sphagnum |
Sibling taxa | ||
Synonyms | S. recurvum var. angustifolium, S. amblyphyllum var. parvifolium, S. flexuosum var. tenue, S. parvifolium, S. recurvum var. parvifolium, S. recurvum var. tenue | S. cymbifolium |
Name authority | (Warnstorf) C. E. O. Jensen: Bih. Svenska Vetensk.-Akad. Handl. 16(9): 46. (1891) | Linnaeus: Sp. Pl. 2: 1106. (1753) |
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