Sphagnum lindbergii |
Sphagnum steerei |
|
---|---|---|
brown-stem peat-moss, Lindberg's sphagnum |
steere'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 to large, compact and stiff-stemmed with upswept branches; dark green and brown, dark chesnut brown, brown to blackish brown, often with bluish tinge when dry; forming dense low to moderately tall hummocks. |
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 to 1.2 × 0.8 mm; rarely hemiisophyllous; hyaline cells mostly nonseptate, comb-lamellae usually absent, but sometimes weak. |
Branches | strongly 5-ranked and straight. |
short and blunt-tipped, leaves spreading. |
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-elliptical, 1.6–2.2 × 1 mm; hyaline cells on proximal half of convex surface with round to elliptic pores along the commissures; comb-lamellae on hyaline cell wall where overlying chlorophyllous cells; chlorophyllous cells broadly triangular in transverse section and well-enclosed on convex surface, end wall not thickened. |
Sexual condition | monoicous or dioicous. |
dioicous. |
Capsule | unknown. |
|
Spores | 22–34 µm; both surfaces smooth, apparent ridged border on proximal surface; proximal laesura more than 0.5 spore radius. |
unknown. |
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 pendent branch.; 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 steerei |
|
Habitat | Widespread forming carpets in ombrotrophic to weakly minerotrophic boreal mires | Commonly in firm-bottomed poor to medium fen vegetation, subarctic to arctic regions |
Elevation | low to high elevations | low to moderate elevations |
Distribution |
AK; CO; NH; NY; WA; AB; BC; MB; NF; NS; NT; NU; ON; QC; YT; Greenland; Eurasia |
AK; MB; NT; NU; QC; YT; e Asia |
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.) |
Sphagnum steerei is usually easily recognized in the field by its dense growth habit and dark brown color. Its ecology is somewhat unclear due to taxonomic confusion with S. imbricatum in the strict sense and S. austinii (R. E. Andrus 1987). The latter is the only species in the imbricatum complex that occurs where S. steerei does. Contrary to the view of H. A. Crum (1997), S. steerei is quite distinct from S. affine and S. austinii. There is no range overlap with either of those species and the macroscopic appearance is also quite different. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Source | FNA vol. 27, p. 70. | FNA vol. 27, p. 54. |
Parent taxa | Sphagnaceae > Sphagnum > sect. Cuspidata | Sphagnaceae > Sphagnum > sect. Sphagnum |
Sibling taxa | ||
Synonyms | S. imbricatum var. arcticum | |
Name authority | Schimper: Öfvers. Kongl. Vetensk.-Akad. Förh. 14: 126. (1857) | R. E. Andrus: Bryologist 90: 218. (1987) |
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