Sphagnum balticum |
Sphagnum recurvum |
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Baltic peat-moss, Baltic sphagnum |
recurved 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 to robust, moderately stiff-stemmed, ± lax, but not compact; green to pale yellow to yellowish brown; capitulum typically strongly convex in open grown forms, but flat and ± 5-radiate in shade forms. |
Stem(s) | leaves 0.8–1.1 mm, triangular-lingulate to lingulate, concave, spreading, apex broadly obtuse, hyaline cells fibrillose in apical region. |
pale green to yellowish; superficial cortex of 2 layers of enlarged, thin-walled and well differentiated cells.; stem leaves triangular, triangular-lingulate to lingulate, more than 0.8 mm, appressed, apex obtuse to broadly obtuse, erose to fimbriate; hyaline cells efibrillose and nonseptate. |
Branches | slender and tapering, often 5-ranked and decurved, leaves somewhat elongated at distal end. |
straight and often tapering, often 5-ranked, leaves not much elongate at distal end of branches. |
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-lanceolate, 1.4–2 mm, straight; slightly undulate and sharply recurved; margins entire; hyaline cells on convex surface with 1 pore per cell at cell apex, concave surface with round wall thinnings in the cell ends and angles; chlorophyllous cells triangular in transverse section and well-enclosed on concave surface. |
Sexual condition | dioicous. |
dioicous. |
Spores | 25–33 µm; smooth to finely papillose on both surfaces; proximal laesura approximately 0.5 spore radius. |
22–28 µm; papillose on both surfaces; proximal laesura more than 0.5 spore radius. |
Branch | fascicles with 2 spreading and mostly 1 pendent branch.; branch stem green, cortex enlarged with conspicuous retort cells. |
fascicles with 2 spreading and 2 pendent branches.; branch stems green, cortex enlarged with conspicuous retort cells. |
Sphagnum balticum |
Sphagnum recurvum |
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Phenology | Capsules mature late summer to early fall. | |
Habitat | Abundant in hollows and floating mats in raised bogs and poor fens | Forming carpets in a variety of very poor to poor fen habitats, including sedge fens, pocosins, bay swamps |
Elevation | low to high elevations | low to moderate elevations |
Distribution |
AK; CO; AB; BC; MB; NT; NU; ON; QC; YT; Greenland; Eurasia |
AL; AR; CT; DE; FL; GA; IL; IN; KY; LA; MA; MD; ME; MO; MS; NC; NH; NJ; NY; OH; PA; SC; TN; TX; VA; VT; WV; NF; NS; South America
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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.) |
Sporophytes in Sphagnum recurvum are uncommon. This species is found exclusively in the New World. It has several strong characters that distinguish it from S. flexuosum, and the opinion of H. A. Crum (1997) that the two species are synonymous is rejected. See discussion under 30. S. flexuosum. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Source | FNA vol. 27, p. 65. | FNA vol. 27, p. 75. |
Parent taxa | ||
Sibling taxa | ||
Synonyms | S. recurvum subsp. balticum | S. pentastichon, S. pulchricoma, S. riparioides |
Name authority | (Russow) C. E. O. Jensen: in Botaniske Forening København, Festskrift, 100. (1890) | P. Beauvois: Prodr. Aethéogam., 88. (1805) |
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