Sphagnum palustre |
Sphagnum fuscum |
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blunt-leaf bogmoss, blunt-leaf peat-moss, prairie sphagnum |
common brown peat-moss, rusty bogmoss, rusty peat moss, sphagnum |
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Habit | Plants moderate-sized to robust, strong-stemmed, lax to somewhat compact, capitulum somewhat flattened to more typically compact and rounded; green to golden brown to pale brown with often a pinkish tinge; carpets to more or less compact, low to moderate sized hummocks. | Plants small and slender, stiff and usually compact, capitulum small and flat-topped; typically deep reddish brown, also greenish brown in shaded habitats and in early seasonal growth, without metallic lustre when dry. |
Stem(s) | leaves to 1.7 × 1 mm, occasionally longer; rarely hemiisophyllous; hyaline cells non-ornamented, nonseptate. |
leaves lingulate, 0.8–1.3 mm; apex broadly rounded and entire to lacerate, sometimes slightly mucronate or slightly denticulate; hyaline cells rhombic, 0–1(–2)-septate, usually efibrillose. |
Branches | long and tapering, leaves ± imbricate to spreading in shade forms. |
long and slender to short and compact, unranked to 5-ranked. |
Branch leaves | broadly ovate, 2.2 × 1.3 mm, hyaline cells non-ornamented, convex surface with elliptic pores along the commissures, chlorophyllous cells isosceles-triangular to ovate-triangular in transverse section and just enclosed to just exposed on the convex surface; end wall not thickened. |
ovate-lanceolate, 1.1–1.3 mm, straight, concave, apex strongly involute; margins entire, hyaline cells on convex surface with round to elliptic pores along the commissures, grading from small pores near the leaf apex to large pores near the base, concave surface with large round pores in proximal marginal regions of leaf. |
Sexual condition | dioicous. |
dioicous. |
Capsule | with numerous pseudostomata. |
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Spores | 24–33 µm, surface finely papillose to smooth, distal surface with distinct bifurcated Y-mark sculpture; proximal laesura more than 0.6 spore radius. |
17–30 µm, finely papillose on proximal surface and pusticulate on distal surface; proximal laesura less than 0.5 spore radius. |
Branch | fascicles with 2 spreading and 2 pendent branches.; branch stems with hyaline cells non-ornamented; no or weak funnel-like projections on the interior end walls, often with 1 large pore per cell on superficial cell walls. |
fascicles with 2 spreading and 1–2 pendent branches. |
Sphagnum palustre |
Sphagnum fuscum |
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Phenology | Capsules mature mid to late summer. | Capsules mature late summer. |
Habitat | Widespread in forested fens and poor to rich sedge fens | Mires, hummocks, fens |
Elevation | low to moderate elevations | low to high elevations |
Distribution |
AL; AR; CA; CT; DE; FL; GA; IA; IL; IN; KY; LA; MA; MD; ME; MI; MN; MO; MS; NC; NH; NJ; NY; OH; OK; OR; PA; SC; TN; TX; VA; VT; WA; WI; WV; BC; NB; NF; NS; ON; PE; QC; Europe; Pacific Islands
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AK; CA; CO; CT; ID; IL; IN; MA; MD; ME; MI; MN; MT; NC; NH; NJ; NY; OH; OR; PA; RI; UT; VA; VT; WA; WI; WV; WY; AB; BC; MB; NB; NF; NS; NT; NU; ON; PE; QC; SK; YT; Greenland; Eurasia
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Discussion | Sphagnum palustre may occur elsewhere than listed above, but the taxonomy is unclear. In some open-grown situations, it may have a reddish tinge and seem similar to S. magellanicum, but this is a pinkish red color rather than the purplish red of the latter. See discussions under 5. S. henryense and 9. S. papillosum for distinction from those species. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Sphagnum fuscum is common in ombrotrophic mires and alpine mountain summits where it may form small to large hummocks to 1 m in height, more infrequently in weakly minerotrophic mires and richer fens. Sporophytes are common in Sphagnum fuscum, which is associated with S. angustifolium, S. fallax, S. magellanicum, S. papillosum, and more infrequently with S. teres, and S. warnstorfii in richer sites. Very widespread but generally easily recognized, it is the only small brown hummock-forming species of sect. Acutifolia over most of its range. There are some significant variations in this species. The stem leaves can vary from having a rounded, entire apex to having a somewhat flat and lacerate apex. The branches also vary from being unranked and slender to 5-ranked and blunt. The color also can vary from a light to a dark brown. There does not seem, however, to be any consistent pattern to these variations and thus no taxonomic recognition has been given to them. See also discussion under 73. S. flavicomans. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Source | FNA vol. 27, p. 53. | FNA vol. 27, p. 94. |
Parent taxa | Sphagnaceae > Sphagnum > sect. Sphagnum | Sphagnaceae > Sphagnum > sect. Acutifolia |
Sibling taxa | ||
Synonyms | S. cymbifolium | S. acutifolium var. fuscum, S. tenuifolium, S. vancouveriense |
Name authority | Linnaeus: Sp. Pl. 2: 1106. (1753) | (Schimper) H. Klinggraff: Schriften Phys.-Ökon. Ges. Konigsberg 13: 4. (1872) |
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