Sphagnum magellanicum |
Sphagnum molle |
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Magellan's sphagnum, magellanic peat-moss |
sphagnum |
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Habit | Plants moderate-sized to robust, somewhat lax in shade forms to quite compact and stiff in open grown forms; green to pinkish green to reddish purple; forms lawns in shaded habitats and low to moderately tall, dense hummocks in open habitats. | Plants moderate-sized, soft and lax when wet, stiff when dry, typically very compact, capitulum flat and usually large; pale whitish, yellowish or purplish, occasionally a deep purple-red; without metallic sheen when dry. |
Stem(s) | leaves to 2 × 0.7 mm; rarely hemiisophyllous; hyaline cells non-ornamented, mostly nonseptate. |
leaves quite variable in shape, elongate-lingulate to ovate, broadest above the middle, 1.9–2.5 mm, slightly concave, straight; apex broad and toothed; hyaline cells narrowly rhomboid, 0–1-septate, distal portion fibrillose, convex surface with membrane pleats, concave surface with 1(2–3) oblong membrane gaps. |
Branches | long and tapering to short and pointed, leaves loosely imbricate. |
rarely 5-ranked. |
Branch leaves | broadly ovate, to 2 × 1 mm or more wide, broadly ovate, hyaline cells non-ornamented, convex surface with round to elliptic pores along the commissures; chlorophyllous cells short-elliptic in transverse section and well-enclosed on both surfaces. |
ovate, 1.6–2.2 mm, concave, straight; apex stiffly involute and broadly truncate with up to 8 teeth, border denticulate due to cell wall resorption and projecting cell walls; hyaline cells strongly bulging on convex surface and nearly plane on the concave surface, convex surface with narrowly elliptic pores along commissures grading from smaller pores near the apex to large rounded pores at base, concave surface with large round pores in proximal regions of leaf. |
Sexual condition | dioicous. |
monoicous. |
Capsule | with numerous pseudostomata. |
|
Spores | 22–30 µm; roughly papillose to nearly smooth, with distinct Y-mark sculpture on distal surface; proximal laesura 0.5–0.8 spore radius. |
27–33 µm, finely papillose on both surfaces with distinct bifurcated Y-mark sculpture on distal surface; proximal laesura less than 0.5 spore radius. |
Branch | fascicles with 2–3 spreading and 2–3 pendent branches.; branch stems with hyaline cells non-ornamented; no or weak funnel-like projections on the interior end walls, large round pores on superficial cell walls. |
fascicles with 2 spreading and 1–2 pendent branches. |
Sphagnum magellanicum |
Sphagnum molle |
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Phenology | Capsules mature mid summer. | Capsules mature early to mid summer. |
Habitat | Ecological amplitude very wide, ombrotrophic to rich fen peatlands, forested and open mires | Weakly minerotrophic and hygrophytic, poor fens and sand dunes, forming tight cushions among grasses and sedges in savannas, pine barrens, swamps, pond margins, and ditches where periodic dessication is common |
Elevation | low to high elevations | low to high elevations |
Distribution |
AK; AL; AR; CA; CT; DE; FL; GA; ID; IL; IN; KY; LA; MA; MD; ME; MI; MN; MO; MS; MT; NC; NH; NJ; NY; OH; OR; PA; SC; TN; TX; VA; VT; WA; WI; WV; AB; BC; MB; NB; NF; NS; NT; ON; PE; QC; SK; YT; South America; Eurasia
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AL; DE; FL; GA; KY; LA; ME; MS; NC; NJ; NY; SC; TX; VA; LB; Europe |
Discussion | As the only boreal species of the section with a reddish purple color, Sphagnum magellanicum is usually easy to identify. The branch leaf chlorophyll cells are capable of being confused only with those of S. alaskense, which are less enclosed on both surfaces, and S. centrale, which has thickened end walls on the chlorophyll cells that give them a narrow exposure on the concave surface. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
The sporophytes of Sphagnum molle are common. This species is usually easily distinguished from other red species of sect. Acutifolia by its relatively large, straight, loosely spreading and unranked branch leaves. Sphagnum tenerum, the other red species of sect. Acutifolia to which it is most similar, has branch leaves that are quite imbricate. Microscopically, the denticulate-margined branch leaves are unmistakeable. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Source | FNA vol. 27, p. 52. | FNA vol. 27, p. 95. |
Parent taxa | Sphagnaceae > Sphagnum > sect. Sphagnum | Sphagnaceae > Sphagnum > sect. Acutifolia |
Sibling taxa | ||
Synonyms | S. labradorense, S. tabulare | |
Name authority | Bridel: Muscol. Recent. 2(1): 24. (1798) | Sullivant: Musc. Allegh., 205. (1846) |
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