Flora of North America species comparison

The green links below add additional plants to the comparison table. Blue links lead to other Web sites.
enable glossary links

Sphagnum portoricense

Sphagnum aongstroemii

puerto rico sphagnum

aongstroem's sphagnum
Habit Plants moderate-sized to often quite robust, ± weak-stemmed, lax; green, bluish green, green and brown to dark golden brown, often speckled in appearance; found submerged in shallow water, stranded along shore lines in loose carpets.
Stem(s)

leaves 1.1 × 1 mm; rarely hemiisophyllous;

hyaline cells non-ornamented, frequently septate.

green.
Branches

clavate and rounded at distal end.

Branch leaves

broadly ovate, 2.4 × 1.7 mm;

hyaline cells on convex surface with numerous round pores along the commissures, comb-lamellae on hyaline cell walls where overlying chlorophyllous cells; chlorophyllous cells broadly triangular in transverse section and well-enclosed on the convex surface.

very concave, truncate and toothed.
Sexual condition

dioicous.

Capsule

with pseudostomata.

Spores

22–29 µm; finely papillose on both surfaces;

indistinct triradiate ridge on distal surface;

proximal laesura 0.5–0.6 spore radius.

Branch

fascicles with 2 spreading and 2 pendent branches.;

branch stems with hyaline cell comb-lamellae visible on interior cortex wall, cortical cell end walls with conspicuous funnel projections more than 1/2 length of cell, superficial cortical wall aporose.

Sphagnum portoricense

Sphagnum aongstroemii
Habitat Stream channels, shallow ponds, coniferous and hardwood swamps and pocosins Wet rock faces and in moist depressions, usually in open among scattered shrubs and sedges in relatively minerotrophic sites
Elevation low to moderate elevations low to moderate elevations
Distribution
from FNA
AL; FL; LA; NC; NJ; NY; SC; TX; Mexico; South America; West Indies
from FNA
AK; BC; NT; NU; YT; Eurasia
Discussion

Sphagnum portoricense is normally very easily distinguished because of its wet growing habit and strongly clavate branches.

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

Sphagnum aongstroemii can usually be easily recognized by its combination of pale green color and truncate, toothed branch leaves.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Source FNA vol. 27, p. 54. FNA vol. 27, p. 57.
Parent taxa Sphagnaceae > Sphagnum > sect. Sphagnum Sphagnaceae > Sphagnum > sect. Insulosa
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. perfoliatum, S. perichaetiale, S. platyphyllum, 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. 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. 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. sullivantianum S. cymbifolium var. cordifolium
Name authority Hampe: Linnaea 25: 359. (1852) C. Hartman: Handb. Skand. Fl. ed. 7, 399. (1858)
Web links 
Unless otherwise noted, all data comes from the online version of the Flora of North America, who have made most of their content available via a Creative Commons license (CC BY 4.0).



Type/paste one or more Latin names into the boxes above; matching taxa will show up below the box as you type. You can use the up/down arrow keys to move through the list.

(If the plant you're looking for doesn't show up in the auto-complete list, that means it either isn't described in Flora of North America yet, or it's listed under a synonym. And please note that Flora of North America is still missing several plant families, including Apiaceae, Boraginaceae, and Polemoniaceae.)

Choose a data source: Flora of North America

The species comparison tool is brought to you by:
Northwest Wildflowers