Flora of North America species comparison

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Sphagnum sect. Rigida
Habit Plants low-growing in loose mats to compact cushions, capitulum often indistinct or concealed by upwardly directed branches; pale green, straw-colored, brownish to reddish.
Stem(s)

leaves much smaller than branch leaves, triangular-lingulate, border entire and broadened at base;

hyaline cells rhomboid, efibrillose, nonornamented, aporose, and usually nonseptate;

hyaline cells not resorbed on either surface.
Branches

strongly dimorphic, spreading branches much stronger than pendent branches.
Branch leaves

ovate to ovate-lanceolate, apex broadly truncate, smooth and toothed;

margin denticulate;

hyaline cells fibrillose, smooth or papillose, convex surface with ± 5 small to medium-sized free pores, sometimes numerous pseudopores, concave surface with large pores in cell angles; chlorophyllous cells elliptic to ovate-triangular in transverse section, completely enclosed or exposed on concave surface, end walls unthickened.
Sexual condition

monoicous or dioicous.
Capsule

2 mm or less, with numerous pseudostomata.
Spores

mean diameter more than 30 µm, raised Y-mark sculpture on distal surface;

proximal laesura more than 0.3 spore radius.
Branch

fascicles with 2–3 spreading branches and 2(–3) pendent branches.;

branch stems green, green to brownish, surrounded by 1 layer of efibrillose, non-ornamented, inflated, thin-walled, uniporse cells with slight protruding necks.

Sphagnum sect. Rigida
Distribution
Worldwide except Antarctica
Discussion

Species 5 (2 in the flora).

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Key
1. Chlorophyllous cells of branch leaves elliptic in transverse section and completely enclosed on both surfaces, adjacent hyaline cell walls smooth; stem leaves lingulate to oblong-triangular.
S. compactum
1. Chlorophyllous cells of branch leaves elongate-triangular to ovate-triangular, enclosed on the adaxial surface and exposed on the convex surface, adjacent hyaline cell walls minutely papillose; stem leaves bluntly deltoid.
S. strictum
Source FNA vol. 27, p. 55.
Parent taxa Sphagnaceae > Sphagnum
Subordinate taxa
S. compactum, S. strictum
Synonyms S. unranked Rigida
Name authority (Lindberg) Limpricht: in G. L. Rabenhorst et al., Krypt.-Fl. ed. 2, 4(1): 116. (1885)
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).



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