Sphagnum subfulvum |
Sphagnum pylaesii |
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Pylaes' sphagnum |
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Habit | Plants moderate-sized to robust, usually soft and lax, sometimes moderately stiff, capitulum typically enlarged and flat-topped, ± stellate; green to golden brown, unshaded plants often reddish purple, plants with metallic sheen when dry. | 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. |
Stem(s) | leaves triangular-lingulate to broadly lingulate, 0.9–1.3 mm, apex broadly rounded to obtusely angled, border very strong and broad at base (more than 0.4 width); hyaline cells rhombic, efibrillose, most 0–1-septate. |
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. |
Branches | long, tapering, imbricate, not 5-ranked. |
lacking or short and slender. |
Branch leaves | ovate, 2–2.5 mm, concave, straight, apex involute; hyaline cells on convex surface with elliptic pores along the commissures grading from moderate-sized pores near leaf apex to large pores at the base, concave surface with large round pores in proximal portions of leaf. |
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. |
Sexual condition | monoicous. |
dioicous. |
Capsule | usually immersed in perichaetiale leaves, but may be slightly emergent, pseudostomata absent from capsule surface. |
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Spores | 23–31 µm, irregularly coarsely papillose on both surfaces; proximal laesura less than or equal to 0.5 spore radius |
29–41 µm, coarsely papillose on both surfaces, indistinct raised sculpture on distal surface; proximal laesura less than 0.5 spore radius. |
Branch | fascicles with 2 spreading and 1–2 pendent branches. |
fascicles none or 1 spreading branch. |
Sphagnum subfulvum |
Sphagnum pylaesii |
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Phenology | Capsules mature early summer. | |
Habitat | Minerotrophic and hygrophytic, forming hummocks in shrubby and wooded medium and rich fens | Weakly minerotrophic, wet rocks, poor fens |
Elevation | low to moderate elevations | low to high elevations |
Distribution |
AK; ME; MI; MN; NH; NJ; NY; VT; BC; NF; ON; QC; YT; Greenland; Eurasia |
MA; ME; NC; NH; NJ; NF; NS; QC; Greenland; NY ; Europe
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Discussion | Sporophytes of Sphagnum subfulvum are common. This species is associated with S. centrale, S. contortum, S. teres, and S. warnstorfii. Although it is normally more minerotrophic, S. subfulvum does occasionally (in Newfoundland) occur in the same mires as S. flavicomans. The latter lacks the metallic sheen of S. subfulvum and its stem leaves are not as narrow and acute. In some forms S. subfulvum may develop a purplish gloss that may lead to confusion with S. subnitens but the color of that species has a definite red component and its stem leaves are narrower and more sharply pointed than those of S. subfulvum. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
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.) |
Source | FNA vol. 27, p. 98. | FNA vol. 27, p. 84. |
Parent taxa | ||
Sibling taxa | ||
Synonyms | S. nitidum | 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 | Sjörs: Svensk Bot. Tidskr. 38: 404. (1944) | Bridel: Bryol. Univ. 1: 749. (1827) |
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