Sphagnum cuspidatum |
Sphagnum pylaesii |
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feathery bog-moss, feathery peat-moss, tooth sphagnum |
Pylaes' 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 slender and delicate, aquatic or prostrate, with a conspicuous terminal bud; dark greenish to purplish brown in submerged plants to deep salmon-red in prostrate plants, capitulum quite indistinct but with distinct terminal bud. |
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 broadly ovate, 1.5–2(2.5) mm; straight; hyaline cells fibrillose and nearly aporose, with single small pores occasionally found in the distal cell ends on the concave surface. |
Branches | mostly unranked to weakly 5-ranked, often conspicuously falcate, leaves greatly elongated at distal end. |
lacking or short and slender. |
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. |
when present similar to stem leaves but smaller, 0.8–1.2 mm, hyaline cells fibrillose and mostly aporose, 1–6 irregularly round-shaped membrane gaps in some cells near apex on convex surface. |
Sexual condition | dioicous. |
dioicous. |
Capsule | usually immersed in perichaetiale leaves, but may be slightly emergent, pseudostomata absent from capsule surface. |
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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. |
29–41 µm, coarsely papillose on both surfaces, indistinct raised sculpture on distal surface; proximal laesura less than 0.5 spore radius. |
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. |
fascicles none or 1 spreading branch. |
Sphagnum cuspidatum |
Sphagnum pylaesii |
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Habitat | Widespread forming wet carpets in ombrotrophic to weakly minerotrophic mires | Weakly minerotrophic, wet rocks, poor fens |
Elevation | low to moderate elevations | low to high 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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MA; ME; NC; NH; NJ; NF; NS; QC; Greenland; NY ; Europe
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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.) |
Sporophytes rare in Sphagnum pylaesii. This species is distributed as a pioneer on wet rocks associated with S. tenellum and S. papillosum, or in poor fens with S. pulchrum, S. majus, and S. papillosum. See also discussion under 53. S. cyclophyllum. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Source | FNA vol. 27, p. 66. | FNA vol. 27, p. 84. |
Parent taxa | Sphagnaceae > Sphagnum > sect. Cuspidata | Sphagnaceae > Sphagnum > sect. Subsecunda |
Sibling taxa | ||
Synonyms | S. cuspidatum var. plumosum, S. faxonii, S. virginianum | Hemitheca pylaiei, S. pylaesii var. austinii, S. pylaesii var. prostratum, S. pylaesii var. ramosum, S. sedoides, S. sedoides var. austinii, S. sedoides var. prostratum |
Name authority | Hoffman: Deutschl. Fl. 2: 22. (1796) | Bridel: Bryol. Univ. 1: 749. (1827) |
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