Sphagnum rubellum |
Sphagnum recurvum |
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sphagnum |
recurved 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 moderate-sized to robust, moderately stiff-stemmed, ± lax, but not compact; green to pale yellow to yellowish brown; capitulum typically strongly convex in open grown forms, but flat and ± 5-radiate in shade forms. |
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. |
pale green to yellowish; superficial cortex of 2 layers of enlarged, thin-walled and well differentiated cells.; stem leaves triangular, triangular-lingulate to lingulate, more than 0.8 mm, appressed, apex obtuse to broadly obtuse, erose to fimbriate; hyaline cells efibrillose and nonseptate. |
Branches | weakly to strongly 5-ranked. |
straight and often tapering, often 5-ranked, leaves not much elongate at distal end of branches. |
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-lanceolate, 1.4–2 mm, straight; slightly undulate and sharply recurved; margins entire; hyaline cells on convex surface with 1 pore per cell at cell apex, concave surface with round wall thinnings in the cell ends and angles; chlorophyllous cells triangular in transverse section and well-enclosed on concave surface. |
Sexual condition | dioicous. |
dioicous. |
Spores | 18–33 µm, coarsely papillose on both surfaces; proximal laesura less than 0.4 spore radius. |
22–28 µm; papillose on both surfaces; proximal laesura more than 0.5 spore radius. |
Branch | fascicles with 2 spreading and 1–2 pendent branches. |
fascicles with 2 spreading and 2 pendent branches.; branch stems green, cortex enlarged with conspicuous retort cells. |
Sphagnum rubellum |
Sphagnum recurvum |
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Phenology | Capsules mature mid summer. | Capsules mature late summer to early fall. |
Habitat | Poor fens and ombrotrophic mires, forming extensive carpets and hummocks | Forming carpets in a variety of very poor to poor fen habitats, including sedge fens, pocosins, bay swamps |
Elevation | low to high elevations | low to moderate 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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AL; AR; CT; DE; FL; GA; IL; IN; KY; LA; MA; MD; ME; MO; MS; NC; NH; NJ; NY; OH; PA; SC; TN; TX; VA; VT; WV; NF; NS; South America
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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 in Sphagnum recurvum are uncommon. This species is found exclusively in the New World. It has several strong characters that distinguish it from S. flexuosum, and the opinion of H. A. Crum (1997) that the two species are synonymous is rejected. See discussion under 30. S. flexuosum. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Source | FNA vol. 27, p. 96. | FNA vol. 27, p. 75. |
Parent taxa | Sphagnaceae > Sphagnum > sect. Acutifolia | Sphagnaceae > Sphagnum > sect. Cuspidata |
Sibling taxa | ||
Synonyms | S. acutifolium var. tenellum, S. capillaceum var. tenellum, S. capillifolium var. tenellum | S. pentastichon, S. pulchricoma, S. riparioides |
Name authority | Wilson: Bryol. Brit., 19. (1855) | P. Beauvois: Prodr. Aethéogam., 88. (1805) |
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