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sphagnum

lesser cow-horn bog-moss, lesser cow-horn peat moss, water sphagnum

Habit 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. Plants moderate-sized, green in the shade to variegated yellow or orange or both in open habitats; capitulum typically rounded.
Stem(s)

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.

leaves lingulate to triangular-lingulate, 0.9–1.2 mm, apex rounded, usually 1/3–1/2 of leaf fibrillose;

hyaline cells usually fibrillose in distal 1/3–1/2 of leaf, on convex surface near apex with 1–3 pores per cell, on concave surface near apex 1–4 pores per cell.

Branches

rarely 5-ranked.

arched but rarely curved and contorted.

Branch leaves

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.

ovate, 1–1.5 mm, straight to slightly subsecund;

hyaline cells of convex surface with numerous ringed pores along the commissures (12–22 per cell), 0–3 pores per cell on the concave surface.

Sexual condition

monoicous.

Capsule

with few pseudostomata.

Spores

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.

30–37 µm; finely papillose on both surfaces, indistinct raised Y-shaped sculpture on distal surface;

proximal laesura 0.5 spore radius or less.

Branch

fascicles with 2 spreading and 1–2 pendent branches.

fascicles with 2–3 spreading and 2–3 pendent branches.

Sphagnum molle

Sphagnum inundatum

Phenology Capsules mature early to mid summer.
Habitat 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 Weakly minerotrophic habitats such as the margins of ponds, marshes, and mires, in addition to seeps and dripping cliff faces
Elevation low to high elevations low to moderate elevations
Distribution
from FNA
AL; DE; FL; GA; KY; LA; ME; MS; NC; NJ; NY; SC; TX; VA; LB; Europe
from FNA
AK; CT; DE; KY; MA; ME; NC; NH; NJ; NY; OH; PA; RI; SC; VA; VT; WV; BC; NB; NF; NS; QC; Eurasia
Discussion

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.)

The sporophytes of Sphagnum inundatum are uncommon. The ovate, concave branch leaves that are occasionally subsecund give this species an appearance similar to that of S. subsecundum, from which it can usually be distinguished by its larger size. Sphagnum lescurii typically has distinctly larger stem leaves and capitulum branches that can be quite turgid and curved in open-grown forms.

The names Sphagnum bavaricum Warnstorf and S. bushii Warnstorf & Cardot have been applied to this taxon.

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

Source FNA vol. 27, p. 95. FNA vol. 27, p. 81.
Parent taxa Sphagnaceae > Sphagnum > sect. Acutifolia Sphagnaceae > Sphagnum > sect. Subsecunda
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. lindbergii, S. macrophyllum, S. magellanicum, S. majus, S. mcqueenii, S. mendocinum, S. microcarpum, S. mirum, S. mississippiense, 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. imbricatum, S. inexspectatum, 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
Synonyms S. labradorense, S. tabulare S. auriculatum var. inundatum, S. novo-foundlandicum, S. subsecundum var. inundatum
Name authority Sullivant: Musc. Allegh., 205. (1846) Russow: Arch. Naturk. Liv- Ehst- Kurlands, Ser. 2, Biol. Naturk. 10: 390. (1894)
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