Sphagnum rubellum |
Sphagnum microcarpum |
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sphagnum |
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Habit | Plants small to moderate-sized, slender, fairly stiff but soft, capitulum flat-topped and stellate; deep maroon-red to variegated red and yellowish green, lacking metallic sheen when dry. | Plants small; green to light green, capitulum indistinct. |
Stem(s) | leaves lingulate-triangular to lingulate, 1–1.4 mm, apex broadly rounded but becoming acute in hemiisophyllous forms, border strongly developed at base (more than 0.25 width); hyaline cells rhombic and 0–3-septate with some cells in leaf midregion 2–septate. |
leaves isophyllous, ovate to ovate-lanceolate, 2.2–2.8 mm; apex rounded; hyaline cells nonseptate, convex surface with 6–12 pores per cell along commissures, concave surface aporose. |
Branches | weakly to strongly 5-ranked. |
straight and short. |
Branch leaves | ovate to ovate-lanceolate, 0.9–1.2 mm, concave, subsecund on some branches, apex involute; hyaline cells on convex surface with numerous round to elliptic pores along the commissures, grading from small round pores near apex to round pores near base, on concave surface with large round pores in proximal portions of leaf. |
ovate, 1.3–1.7 mm; hyaline cells on convex surface with 8–18 elliptic pores more than 8 µm, concave surface aporose. |
Sexual condition | dioicous. |
unknown. |
Capsule | not seen. |
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Spores | 18–33 µm, coarsely papillose on both surfaces; proximal laesura less than 0.4 spore radius. |
not seen. |
Branch | fascicles with 2 spreading and 1–2 pendent branches. |
fascicles nearly all with 2 spreading branch only. |
Sphagnum rubellum |
Sphagnum microcarpum |
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Phenology | Capsules mature mid summer. | |
Habitat | Poor fens and ombrotrophic mires, forming extensive carpets and hummocks | Ruderal sites such as dessication-prone depressions, ditches, tire tracks, and natural depressions among tussocks |
Elevation | low to high elevations | low elevations |
Distribution |
AK; CT; IL; IN; MA; MD; ME; MI; MN; NC; NH; NJ; NY; OH; OR; PA; RI; VT; WA; WI; BC; NB; NF; NS; NT; ON; PE; QC; YT; Greenland; Eurasia
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FL; LA; NC |
Discussion | Sporophytes are uncommon in Sphagnum rubellum. This common species is associated with S. angustifolium, S. capillifolium, S. fallax, S. fuscum, S. magellanicum, S. papillosum, S. recurvum, and S. tenellum. Inland, it has a greater tendency to form extensive carpets and floating mats than hummocks. See also discussion under 65. S. andersonianum, 68. S. bartlettianum, and 86. S. talbotianum. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Sporophytes are rare in Sphagnum microcarpum, which grows over bare soil in a manner similar to that of S. cyclophyllum and S. fitzgeraldii. It is now recognized as separate from S. cyclophyllum, with which it has been treated as synonymous in the past. Besides the microscopic differences, S. microcarpum has a compact upright growth form quite unlike that of typical S. cyclophyllum. Sphagnum microcarpum is nearly always branched whereas S. cyclophyllum is nearly always simplex. The name Sphagnum mobilense Warnstorf also has been applied to this taxon. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Source | FNA vol. 27, p. 96. | FNA vol. 27, p. 82. |
Parent taxa | Sphagnaceae > Sphagnum > sect. Acutifolia | Sphagnaceae > Sphagnum > sect. Subsecunda |
Sibling taxa | ||
Synonyms | S. acutifolium var. tenellum, S. capillaceum var. tenellum, S. capillifolium var. tenellum | S. microcarpum var. humile |
Name authority | Wilson: Bryol. Brit., 19. (1855) | Warnstorf: Hedwigia 47: 94. (1907) |
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