Sphagnum pylaesii |
Sphagnum orientale |
|
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Pylaes' sphagnum |
oriental sphagnum |
|
Habit | Plants slender and delicate, aquatic or prostrate, with a conspicuous terminal bud; dark greenish to purplish brown in submerged plants to deep salmon-red in prostrate plants, capitulum quite indistinct but with distinct terminal bud. | Plants pale yellow-brown, grey-green, to dark brown. |
Stem(s) | leaves broadly ovate, 1.5–2(2.5) mm; straight; hyaline cells fibrillose and nearly aporose, with single small pores occasionally found in the distal cell ends on the concave surface. |
leaves triangular-lingulate to lingulate; 0.7–0.8 mm; apex rounded and often erose, hyaline cells nonseptate or sometimes 1-septate, numerous small round pores more than 2 µm along the commissures and scattered across the cell on the convex surface, on the concave surface fewer similar-sized pores along the commissures. |
Branches | lacking or short and slender. |
short and slightly curved Branch fascicles with 2 spreading and 2 pendent branches. |
Branch leaves | when present similar to stem leaves but smaller, 0.8–1.2 mm, hyaline cells fibrillose and mostly aporose, 1–6 irregularly round-shaped membrane gaps in some cells near apex on convex surface. |
ovate, 1.1–1.3 mm, distinctly curved to secund; hyaline cells covered with numerous (more than 30 per cell) tiny pores (ca. 1 µm) on convex surface along the commissures and across the cell surface, sometimes forming several linear rows of free pores, on concave surface with fewer pores round to oval and slightly larger (more than 2 µm) restricted to commissures. |
Sexual condition | dioicous. |
probably dioicous. |
Capsule | usually immersed in perichaetiale leaves, but may be slightly emergent, pseudostomata absent from capsule surface. |
not seen. |
Spores | 29–41 µm, coarsely papillose on both surfaces, indistinct raised sculpture on distal surface; proximal laesura less than 0.5 spore radius. |
not seen. |
Branch | fascicles none or 1 spreading branch. |
|
Sphagnum pylaesii |
Sphagnum orientale |
|
Habitat | Weakly minerotrophic, wet rocks, poor fens | Commonly in muskeg pond margins, low center polygons, wet meadows, and tundra pool margins, usually occurring in very wet or submerged habitats |
Elevation | low to high elevations | low to moderate elevations |
Distribution |
MA; ME; NC; NH; NJ; NF; NS; QC; Greenland; NY ; Europe
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AK; NT; NU; Asia |
Discussion | Sporophytes rare in Sphagnum pylaesii. This species is distributed as a pioneer on wet rocks associated with S. tenellum and S. papillosum, or in poor fens with S. pulchrum, S. majus, and S. papillosum. See also discussion under 53. S. cyclophyllum. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
The ecology of Sphagnum orientale is poorly known, due in part to taxonomic confusion with S. perfoliatum and in part to its very northern distribution. Like other species of sect. Subsecunda, however, it is clearly minerotrophic, probably weakly so. Associated vascular plants include Carex aquatilis Wahlenberg, C. bigelowii Torrey, C. fuliginosa Schkuhr, C. rotundata Wahlenberg, Eriophorum vaginatum Linnaeus, Vaccinium oxycoccus Linnaeus, and Betula glandulosa Michaux. Associated bryophytes include Sphagnum aongstroemii, S. fimbriatum subsp. concinnum, S. jensenii, S. obtusum, S. rubellum, S. talbotianum, S. squarrosum, and Cinclidium subrotundatum. Sporophytes are rare. Similar species with which it overlaps in range are S. subsecundum, S. perfoliatum and S. inexspectatum. Field separation from S. subsecundum and S. inexspectatum is difficult but the tiny branch leaf pores will separate it microsopically. Sphagnum perfoliatum is much larger and indeed looks much like some forms of S. lescurii or S.auriculatum, even to having curved, horn-like branches. Sphagnum perfoliatum is also typically quite richly colored and glossy in appearance. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Source | FNA vol. 27, p. 84. | FNA vol. 27, p. 83. |
Parent taxa | ||
Sibling taxa | ||
Synonyms | Hemitheca pylaiei, S. pylaesii var. austinii, S. pylaesii var. prostratum, S. pylaesii var. ramosum, S. sedoides, S. sedoides var. austinii, S. sedoides var. prostratum | |
Name authority | Bridel: Bryol. Univ. 1: 749. (1827) | L. I. Savicz: Bot. Mater. Otd. Sporov. Rast. Bot. Inst. Komarova Akad. Nauk S.S.S.R. 7: 206. (1951) |
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