Sphagnum palustre
Sphagnum mendocinum
blunt-leaf bogmoss, blunt-leaf peat-moss, prairie sphagnum
Mendocino sphagnum
leaves to 1.7 × 1 mm, occasionally longer; rarely hemiisophyllous;
hyaline cells non-ornamented, nonseptate.
leaves broadly oblong-triangular, 1.2–1.5 mm; mostly appressed to stem;
apex obtuse;
hyaline cells narrow, usually nonseptate, efibrillose and aporose on convex surface near apex, on concave surface usually efibrillose with irregular pores along commissures in distal portion of leaf.
long and tapering, leaves ± imbricate to spreading in shade forms.
with loosely imbricate leaves; often 5-ranked;
leaves little to somewhat elongated at distal end.
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, ovate-lanceolate to lanceolate; 2–3.5 mm;
flat and undulate at margins and recurved at apex when dry; straight;
margins entire;
hyaline cells on concave surface with very numerous, small ringed or unringed pores along the commissures, 5–12 in distal portion of leaf and 20–27 in proximal portion, convex surface with 5–15 pores per cell in distal portion of leaf and 14–21 in proximal portion, pores usually without a ring; chlorophyllous cells triangular to trapezoidal in transverse section and exposed slightly on concave surface.
dioicous.
dioicous.
with numerous pseudostomata.
24–33 µm, surface finely papillose to smooth, distal surface with distinct bifurcated Y-mark sculpture;
proximal laesura more than 0.6 spore radius.
ca. 30 µm;
very slightly roughened.
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 2–3 pendent branches.;
branch stems green, with cortical cells in 1 layer with conspicuous necks.
Sphagnum palustre
Sphagnum mendocinum
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.)
Sporophytes of Sphagnum mendocinum are uncommon. Although the unique branch leaf porosity makes it unmistakable microscopically, it may be confused with other species in the field. It is unusual ecologically in that it seems to overlap both the carpet- and lawn-forming habits—in other words it seems intermediate between S. recurvum and S. cuspidatum, in the broad sense. Among the species that it overlaps floristically, it is more robust and darker colored than S. pacificum. The latter also has an apiculate stem leaf compared to the more or less obtuse stem leaves of S. mendocinum. The more wet-growing S. majus var. majus and S. majus var. norvegicum, with which it slightly overlaps in habitat, have branch leaves that are strongly elongated at the distal branch ends whereas those of S. mendocinum are not. See also discussion under 40. S. obtusum. Sexual condition and spore characters are taken from from H. A. Crum (1984).
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
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