Sphagnum cuspidatum |
Sphagnum fimbriatum |
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feathery bog-moss, feathery peat-moss, tooth sphagnum |
fringe bogmoss, fringe peat-moss, sphagnum |
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Habit | Plants slender and weak-stemmed, moderate-sized, flaccid and plumose in aquatic forms to more compact in emergent forms, spreading branches often conspicuously falcate, giving capitulum a twisted appearance; green to yellow, often tinged with red, red-brown or brown in capitula. | Plants typically small and slender, larger and compact in the Arctic, capitulum small to moderate-sized, often with a conspicuous terminal bud; green, yellowish brown to brown; without metallic lustre when dry. | ||||
Stem(s) | leaves triangular-ovate, more than 1.2 mm, usually appressed; apex acute to apiculate, hyaline cells rarely septate or porose, apical region often fibrillose. |
leaves spatulate to broad-spatulate, 0.8–1.5(–2) mm, strongly lacerate across the broad apex and often part way down the margins, border scarcely to strongly broadened at base (0.25 width of base or less); hyaline cells rhomboid, efibrillose and often 1–2-septate. |
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Branches | mostly unranked to weakly 5-ranked, often conspicuously falcate, leaves greatly elongated at distal end. |
not 5-ranked, quite terete, long, and slender Branch fascicles with 1– 2 spreading and 1–2 pendent branches. |
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Branch leaves | ovate-lanceolate to lanceolate, 1.6–5 mm, falcate toward branch tips, when dry often undulate and recurved, rarely weakly serrulate along the margins in submerged forms, leaves from middle of spreading branches with length to width ratio less than or equal to 1:0.28; hyaline cells length to width ratio in apical convex surface region 8:1 or more, convex surface with 0–1 small round pores at apex, concave surface with faint round wall thinnings in cell apices and angles; chlorophyllous cells triangular to trapezoidal in transverse section, broadly exposed on the convex surface and exposed slightly on the concave surface. |
ovate to ovate-lanceolate; 1.1–1.5(–2) mm, slightly concave, straight; apex involute; margins entire; hyaline cells on convex surface with numerous pores along the commissures grading from small pores near leaf apex to large pores at base, concave surface with large round pores at leaf apex and along margins. |
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Sexual condition | dioicous. |
often monoicous. |
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Spores | 29–38 µm; covered with large papillae on both surfaces, appearing pusticulate; proximal laesura less than 0.5 spore radius. |
20–27 µm, finely papillose on both surfaces; proximal laesura less than 0.5 spore radius. |
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Branch | fascicles with 2 spreading and 2–3 pendent branches.; branch stems green, but often pinkish at the proximal ends, with cortex enlarged with conspicuous retort cells. |
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Sphagnum cuspidatum |
Sphagnum fimbriatum |
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Habitat | Widespread forming wet carpets in ombrotrophic to weakly minerotrophic mires | |||||
Elevation | low to moderate elevations | |||||
Distribution |
AL; CT; DE; FL; GA; IL; IN; KS; MA; MD; ME; MI; MN; MS; NC; NH; NJ; NY; OH; PA; RI; SC; TN; VA; VT; WI; WV; NB; NF; NS; ON; QC; Europe
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North America; South America; Eurasia; Pacific Islands (New Zealand)
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Discussion | Distinguishing Sphagnum cuspidatum from S. viride is sometimes difficult, as both occur over a similar geographic range and both grow in wet carpets. Sphagnum cuspidatum has narrower branch leaves and usually a distinct red tinge at the branch bases within the capitulum. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Subspecies 2 (2 in the flora). (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
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Key |
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Source | FNA vol. 27, p. 66. | FNA vol. 27, p. 92. | ||||
Parent taxa | Sphagnaceae > Sphagnum > sect. Cuspidata | Sphagnaceae > Sphagnum > sect. Acutifolia | ||||
Sibling taxa | ||||||
Subordinate taxa | ||||||
Synonyms | S. cuspidatum var. plumosum, S. faxonii, S. virginianum | |||||
Name authority | Hoffman: Deutschl. Fl. 2: 22. (1796) | Wilson & Hooker: in J. D. Hooker, Fl. Antarct., 398. (1847) | ||||
Web links |