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sphagnum

Habit Plants moderate-sized, upright but weak-stemmed; golden brown to dark brown; capitulum distinct and often with strongly curved branches. 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 triangular-lingulate to lingulate; 0.8–1.2 mm;

apex rounded and sometimes erose;

hyaline cells non-septate or sometimes septate, usually fibrillose in distal 1/2 of leaf, convex surface with very small pores (ca. 2 µm) along commisures and free, concave surface with fewer commissural pores.

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

turgid and often strongly curved.

rarely 5-ranked.

Branch leaves

ovate-lanceolate; 1.4 or more mm; mostly subsecund;

hyaline cells on convex surface with numerous small (2 µm or more) pores along the commissures and sometimes free, concave surface with no pores or fewer small pores along the commissures.

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

not known.

monoicous.

Capsule

not seen.

Spores

not seen.

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 spreading and 2 pendent branches.

fascicles with 2 spreading and 1–2 pendent branches.

Sphagnum perfoliatum

Sphagnum molle

Phenology Capsules mature early to mid summer.
Habitat Low to moderate elevations 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
Distribution
from FNA
AK; NT; Asia
from FNA
AL; DE; FL; GA; KY; LA; ME; MS; NC; NJ; NY; SC; TX; VA; LB; Europe
Discussion

For ecology, see discussion under 59. Sphagnum orientale. Sporophytes of Sphagnum perfoliatum are apparently rare.

(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. 83. FNA vol. 27, p. 95.
Parent taxa Sphagnaceae > Sphagnum > sect. Subsecunda Sphagnaceae > Sphagnum > sect. Acutifolia
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. molle, S. obtusum, S. oregonense, S. orientale, S. pacificum, S. palustre, S. papillosum, 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. 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
Synonyms S. labradorense, S. tabulare
Name authority L. I. Savicz: Bot. Mater. Otd. Sporov. Rast. Bot. Inst. Komarova Akad. Nauk S.S.S.R. 7: 208. (1951) Sullivant: Musc. Allegh., 205. (1846)
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