Sphagnum tenerum |
Sphagnum junghuhnianum |
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sphagnum |
junghuhn's sphagnum |
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Habit | Plants ± robust, weak-stemmed, and compact, capitulum hemispherical, branches in capitulum short and blunt; typically mottled pale yellow-green and purplish red, without metallic sheen when dry. | Plants moderate-sized, soft, loosely tufted, slender, capitulum flat-topped to rounded; pale, dirty green, yellowish to brownish; without metallic lustre when dry. |
Stem(s) | leaves 1.4–1.8 mm, elongate-triangular, lingulate-triangular, hemiisophyllous forms elongate triangular-ovate, 1.4–1.8 mm, apex usually conspicuously toothed, border narrow at base (less than 0.25 width); hyaline cells narrowly rhombic to S-shaped, can be efibrillose and aporose but more commonly fibrillose and porose, 0–1-septate. |
leaves triangular-lingulate, 1.2–1.6 mm, broadly apex acute to narrowly truncate and toothed, border narrow or indistinct at base (less than 0.25 the width); hyaline cells rhomboid, mostly 0–1-septate; convex surface with membrane pleats, concave surface with 1–3 rounded membrane gaps occupying most of cell. |
Branches | turgid and terete, leaves, not 5-ranked. |
somewhat 5-ranked. |
Branch leaves | ovate, 1.1–1.7 mm, slightly concave, straight, apex weakly involute and conspicuously toothed; hyaline cells on the convex surface with round to elliptic pores along the commissures, grading from moderate-sized pores near apex to large pores at leaf base, concave surface with large round pores throughout. |
ovate-lanceolate, 1.3–2 mm, strongly concave, apex strongly involute; margins entire to somewhat toothed near apex, hyaline cells on convex surface with numerous ringed elliptic pores (6–10) along commissures, concave surface mostly aporose except near margins; Sexual condition dioicous or monoicous. |
Sexual condition | uncertain, monoicous or dioicous or possibly both. |
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Spores | 22–25 µm, finely roughened. |
21–23 µm; minutely papillose. |
Branch | fascicles with 2 spreading and 1–2 pendent branches. |
fascicles with 2 spreading and 1–2 pendent branches. |
Sphagnum tenerum |
Sphagnum junghuhnianum |
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Habitat | Damp sand and thin humus especially around pond margins, open savannas, and pine barrens | Shady, seepy cliffs |
Elevation | low to moderate elevations | low elevations |
Distribution |
AL; DC; DE; FL; GA; KY; MD; NC; NJ; NY; PA; RI; SC; TN; VA |
BC; e Asia |
Discussion | Sporophytes are uncommon in Spagnum tenerum. The sexual condition is uncertain because of past taxonomic confusion with S. capillifolium (R. E. Andrus 1980). Sphagnum tenerum is usually described (incorrectly) as having hemiisophyllous stem leaves, and many collections of other species of sect. Acutifolia with such leaves have been called S. tenerum. When correctly characterized, S. tenerum is can be confused only with S. capillifolium, with which it has only a very small range overlap. Microscopically, besides the otherwise quite different S. angermanicum, S. tenerum is the only species of sect. Acutifolia with large round free pores in most of the branch leaf hyaline cells on their concave surfaces. See also discussion under 71. S. capillifolium. Sexual condition and spore features were taken from H. A. Crum (1984). The name Sphagnum evansii Warnstorf has also been used for this taxon. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Sphagnum junghuhnianum in the flora area is known only from the Queen Charlotte Islands. Sporophytes of Sphagnum junghuhnianum were not seen. Three other large, brown species of sect. Acutifolia have stem leaves without fimbriate to lacerate apices, S. subnitens (forms without red color), S. subfulvum, and S. flavicomans. Sphagnum flavicomans has a more pointed stem leaf and a darker brown color as well as a strongly different ecology and range. Both S. subnitens and S. subfulvum have a glossy sheen when dry that is lacking in S. junghuhnianum. Sexual condition and spore characters were taken from H. A. Crum (1984). (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Source | FNA vol. 27, p. 100. | FNA vol. 27, p. 95. |
Parent taxa | ||
Sibling taxa | ||
Synonyms | S. capillaceum var. tenerum, S. capillifolium var. tenerum, S. tenerum var. virginicum | S. junghuhnianum subsp. pseudomolle, S. pseudomolle |
Name authority | Sullivant: in A. Gray, Manual ed. 2, 611. (1856) | Dozy & Molkenboer: Verh. Kon. Akad. Wetensch., Afd. Natuurk. 2: 8. (1854) |
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