The green links below add additional plants to the comparison table. Blue links lead to other Web sites.
enable glossary links

brown-stem peat-moss, Lindberg's sphagnum

Habit Plants moderate-sized to large, moderately densely branched; green to brown, often bluish tinged and/or shiny when dry; capitulum flattopped with a conspicuous terminal bud. Plants moderate-sized, weak-stemmed, lax; yellowish to golden brown; forming loose carpets; branches loosely imbricate.
Stem(s)

leaves lingulate-spatulate, large, 1.3–1.6 mm; appressed to stem;

apex very broad and lacerate;

hyaline cells efibrillose and aporose, often septate.

leaves short-rectangular, 0.8–1.1 mm, hyaline cells mostly non-septate and absent comb-fibrils.

Branches

strongly 5-ranked and straight.

Branch leaves

ovate-lanceolate, 1.5–3 mm; straight to slightly subsecund; imbricate to somewhat reflexed and not undulate;

margins entire;

hyaline cells long and narrow, length to width ca. 10:1 on convex surface with 1 or more small pores in the cell ends and angles and often with numerous pseudopores along the margins, on concave surface with large round wall thinnings on the cell ends and angles; chlorophyllous cells triangular to trapezoidal in transverse section, apex often exposed on concave surface.

ovate to ovate-elliptic, 1.4–1.8 mm;

hyaline cells on convex surface with numerous pores along the commissures;

comb-lamellae obvious only in proximal 1/2 of leaf; chlorophyllous cells broadly triangular in transverse section and well-enclosed on the convex surface.

Sexual condition

monoicous or dioicous.

dioecious.

Spores

22–34 µm;

both surfaces smooth, apparent ridged border on proximal surface;

proximal laesura more than 0.5 spore radius.

(22) 24–27(–28) µm, surface granulate.

Branch

fascicles with 2 spreading and 2 pendent branches, leaves not much elongated at distal end.;

branch stems green, with cortex enlarged with retort cells.

fascicles with 2 spreading and 1–2 hanging branches.;

branch stems with hyaline cells non-ornamented, no or weak funnel-like projections on the end walls of cortical cells, cortical cell walls usually with large round pores.

Sphagnum lindbergii

Sphagnum imbricatum

Habitat Widespread forming carpets in ombrotrophic to weakly minerotrophic boreal mires Ecology poorly known
Elevation low to high elevations moderate elevations
Distribution
from FNA
AK; CO; NH; NY; WA; AB; BC; MB; NF; NS; NT; NU; ON; QC; YT; Greenland; Eurasia
from FNA
AK
Discussion

Sporophytes are uncommon. Sphagnum lindbergii is normally easily distinguished from other carpet-forming species of sect. Cuspidata by its large, strongly lacerate stem leaf and dark brown to black stem. Sexual condition is taken from from L. I. Savicz-Lubitzkaya and Z. N. Smirnova (1968).

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)

K. I. Flatberg (1984) considered Sphagnum imbricatum to be East Asian in distribution but a recent collection in Selawik National Wildlife Refuge places it in the North American flora. It will undoubtedly be found elsewhere. Sphagnum imbricatum is closest in morphological detail to S. steerei, but the latter is a very dark colored and densely branched species whereas S. imbricatum is quite light in color and not particularly dense.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)

Source FNA vol. 27, p. 70. FNA vol. 27, p. 52.
Parent taxa Sphagnaceae > Sphagnum > sect. Cuspidata Sphagnaceae > Sphagnum > sect. Sphagnum
Sibling taxa
S. affine, S. alaskense, S. andersonianum, S. angermanicum, S. angustifolium, S. annulatum, S. aongstroemii, S. arcticum, S. atlanticum, S. austinii, S. balticum, S. bartlettianum, S. beothuk, S. bergianum, S. brevifolium, S. capillifolium, S. carolinianum, S. centrale, S. compactum, S. contortum, S. cribrosum, S. cuspidatum, S. cyclophyllum, S. fallax, S. fimbriatum, S. fitzgeraldii, S. flavicomans, S. flexuosum, S. fuscum, S. girgensohnii, S. henryense, S. imbricatum, S. inexspectatum, S. inundatum, S. isoviitae, S. jensenii, S. junghuhnianum, S. kenaiense, S. lenense, S. lescurii, S. macrophyllum, S. magellanicum, S. majus, S. mcqueenii, S. mendocinum, S. microcarpum, S. mirum, S. mississippiense, S. molle, S. obtusum, S. oregonense, S. orientale, S. pacificum, S. palustre, S. papillosum, S. perfoliatum, S. perichaetiale, S. platyphyllum, S. portoricense, S. pulchrum, S. pylaesii, S. quinquefarium, S. recurvum, S. riparium, S. rubellum, S. rubiginosum, S. rubroflexuosum, S. russowii, S. sitchense, S. splendens, S. squarrosum, S. steerei, S. strictum, S. subfulvum, S. subnitens, S. subsecundum, S. subtile, S. talbotianum, S. tenellum, S. tenerum, S. teres, S. torreyanum, S. trinitense, S. tundrae, S. viride, S. warnstorfii, S. wilfii, S. wulfianum
S. affine, S. alaskense, S. andersonianum, S. angermanicum, S. angustifolium, S. annulatum, S. aongstroemii, S. arcticum, S. atlanticum, S. austinii, S. balticum, S. bartlettianum, S. beothuk, S. bergianum, S. brevifolium, S. capillifolium, S. carolinianum, S. centrale, S. compactum, S. contortum, S. cribrosum, S. cuspidatum, S. cyclophyllum, S. fallax, S. fimbriatum, S. fitzgeraldii, S. flavicomans, S. flexuosum, S. fuscum, S. girgensohnii, S. henryense, S. inexspectatum, S. inundatum, S. isoviitae, S. jensenii, S. junghuhnianum, S. kenaiense, S. lenense, S. lescurii, S. lindbergii, S. macrophyllum, S. magellanicum, S. majus, S. mcqueenii, S. mendocinum, S. microcarpum, S. mirum, S. mississippiense, S. molle, S. obtusum, S. oregonense, S. orientale, S. pacificum, S. palustre, S. papillosum, S. perfoliatum, S. perichaetiale, S. platyphyllum, S. portoricense, S. pulchrum, S. pylaesii, S. quinquefarium, S. recurvum, S. riparium, S. rubellum, S. rubiginosum, S. rubroflexuosum, S. russowii, S. sitchense, S. splendens, S. squarrosum, S. steerei, S. strictum, S. subfulvum, S. subnitens, S. subsecundum, S. subtile, S. talbotianum, S. tenellum, S. tenerum, S. teres, S. torreyanum, S. trinitense, S. tundrae, S. viride, S. warnstorfii, S. wilfii, S. wulfianum
Name authority Schimper: Öfvers. Kongl. Vetensk.-Akad. Förh. 14: 126. (1857) Russow: Beitr. Torfm., 99. (1865)
Web links