Sphagnum tenerum |
Sphagnum portoricense |
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sphagnum |
puerto rico 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 to often quite robust, ± weak-stemmed, lax; green, bluish green, green and brown to dark golden brown, often speckled in appearance; found submerged in shallow water, stranded along shore lines in loose carpets. |
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 1.1 × 1 mm; rarely hemiisophyllous; hyaline cells non-ornamented, frequently septate. |
Branches | turgid and terete, leaves, not 5-ranked. |
clavate and rounded at distal end. |
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. |
broadly ovate, 2.4 × 1.7 mm; hyaline cells on convex surface with numerous round pores along the commissures, comb-lamellae on hyaline cell walls where overlying chlorophyllous cells; chlorophyllous cells broadly triangular in transverse section and well-enclosed on the convex surface. |
Sexual condition | uncertain, monoicous or dioicous or possibly both. |
dioicous. |
Capsule | with pseudostomata. |
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Spores | 22–25 µm, finely roughened. |
22–29 µm; finely papillose on both surfaces; indistinct triradiate ridge on distal surface; proximal laesura 0.5–0.6 spore radius. |
Branch | fascicles with 2 spreading and 1–2 pendent branches. |
fascicles with 2 spreading and 2 pendent branches.; branch stems with hyaline cell comb-lamellae visible on interior cortex wall, cortical cell end walls with conspicuous funnel projections more than 1/2 length of cell, superficial cortical wall aporose. |
Sphagnum tenerum |
Sphagnum portoricense |
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Habitat | Damp sand and thin humus especially around pond margins, open savannas, and pine barrens | Stream channels, shallow ponds, coniferous and hardwood swamps and pocosins |
Elevation | low to moderate elevations | low to moderate elevations |
Distribution |
AL; DC; DE; FL; GA; KY; MD; NC; NJ; NY; PA; RI; SC; TN; VA |
AL; FL; LA; NC; NJ; NY; SC; TX; Mexico; South America; West Indies |
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 portoricense is normally very easily distinguished because of its wet growing habit and strongly clavate branches. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Source | FNA vol. 27, p. 100. | FNA vol. 27, p. 54. |
Parent taxa | ||
Sibling taxa | ||
Synonyms | S. capillaceum var. tenerum, S. capillifolium var. tenerum, S. tenerum var. virginicum | S. sullivantianum |
Name authority | Sullivant: in A. Gray, Manual ed. 2, 611. (1856) | Hampe: Linnaea 25: 359. (1852) |
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