Sphagnum balticum |
Sphagnum inundatum |
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Baltic peat-moss, Baltic sphagnum |
lesser cow-horn bog-moss, lesser cow-horn peat moss, water sphagnum |
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Habit | Plants small to moderate-sized, soft and ± weak-stemmed; brownish green, yellow-green, yellowish to golden brown, capitulum typically flat and 5-radiate. | Plants moderate-sized, green in the shade to variegated yellow or orange or both in open habitats; capitulum typically rounded. |
Stem(s) | leaves 0.8–1.1 mm, triangular-lingulate to lingulate, concave, spreading, apex broadly obtuse, hyaline cells fibrillose in apical region. |
leaves lingulate to triangular-lingulate, 0.9–1.2 mm, apex rounded, usually 1/3–1/2 of leaf fibrillose; hyaline cells usually fibrillose in distal 1/3–1/2 of leaf, on convex surface near apex with 1–3 pores per cell, on concave surface near apex 1–4 pores per cell. |
Branches | slender and tapering, often 5-ranked and decurved, leaves somewhat elongated at distal end. |
arched but rarely curved and contorted. |
Branch leaves | ovate-lanceolate, 1–1.7 mm, straight, slightly undulate and spreading; margin entire, hyaline cells on convex surface with 1–5 pores in cell ends and free near apex, on concave surface with round wall thinnings in cell ends and angles; chlorophyllous cells triangular in transverse section and well-enclosed on concave surface. |
ovate, 1–1.5 mm, straight to slightly subsecund; hyaline cells of convex surface with numerous ringed pores along the commissures (12–22 per cell), 0–3 pores per cell on the concave surface. |
Sexual condition | dioicous. |
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Capsule | with few pseudostomata. |
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Spores | 25–33 µm; smooth to finely papillose on both surfaces; proximal laesura approximately 0.5 spore radius. |
30–37 µm; finely papillose on both surfaces, indistinct raised Y-shaped sculpture on distal surface; proximal laesura 0.5 spore radius or less. |
Branch | fascicles with 2 spreading and mostly 1 pendent branch.; branch stem green, cortex enlarged with conspicuous retort cells. |
fascicles with 2–3 spreading and 2–3 pendent branches. |
Sphagnum balticum |
Sphagnum inundatum |
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Habitat | Abundant in hollows and floating mats in raised bogs and poor fens | Weakly minerotrophic habitats such as the margins of ponds, marshes, and mires, in addition to seeps and dripping cliff faces |
Elevation | low to high elevations | low to moderate elevations |
Distribution |
AK; CO; AB; BC; MB; NT; NU; ON; QC; YT; Greenland; Eurasia |
AK; CT; DE; KY; MA; ME; NC; NH; NJ; NY; OH; PA; RI; SC; VA; VT; WV; BC; NB; NF; NS; QC; Eurasia |
Discussion | Unlike Sphagnum angustifolium and S. annulatum, S. balticum has stem leaves exerted at right angles to the stem. It also has fewer and weaker hanging branches than does S. angustifolium, which make the stem itself often visible and the stem leaves easier to see. Sphagnum balticum also lacks the paired pendent branch buds between the capitulum rays as seen in S. angustifolium. In Sphagnum kenaiense there are sometimes spreading stem leaves but this species has 2 hanging branches per fascicle. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
The sporophytes of Sphagnum inundatum are uncommon. The ovate, concave branch leaves that are occasionally subsecund give this species an appearance similar to that of S. subsecundum, from which it can usually be distinguished by its larger size. Sphagnum lescurii typically has distinctly larger stem leaves and capitulum branches that can be quite turgid and curved in open-grown forms. The names Sphagnum bavaricum Warnstorf and S. bushii Warnstorf & Cardot have been applied to this taxon. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Source | FNA vol. 27, p. 65. | FNA vol. 27, p. 81. |
Parent taxa | ||
Sibling taxa | ||
Synonyms | S. recurvum subsp. balticum | S. auriculatum var. inundatum, S. novo-foundlandicum, S. subsecundum var. inundatum |
Name authority | (Russow) C. E. O. Jensen: in Botaniske Forening København, Festskrift, 100. (1890) | Russow: Arch. Naturk. Liv- Ehst- Kurlands, Ser. 2, Biol. Naturk. 10: 390. (1894) |
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