Flora of North America species comparison

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Sphagnum wulfianum

Sphagnum angustifolium

wulf's sphagnum

fine bogmoss, poor-fen peat-moss, sphagnum
Habit Plants small and often slender and soft, lax to compact, moderately stiff-stemmed; green to pale yellow to golden brown to brown; capitulum strongly convex in drier grown forms to strongly 5-radiate and flat in wetter growing forms.
Stem(s)

leaves equilateral to isosceles-triangular, small, less than 0.8 mm, mostly appressed to stem, apex acute to obtuse, hyaline cells efibrillose and nonseptate.
Branches

straight to slightly curved, usually 5-ranked;

leaves not much longer at distal end than proximal end.
Branch leaves

with chlorophyllous cells often with faint papillae on interior walls.

narrowly ovate-lanceolate, 0.8–1 mm, straight, moderately undulate and recurved in larger and/or wetter grown forms, not undulate and slightly recurved in compact forms from drier sites;

margins entire;

hyaline cells on convex surface with 1(2–3) pore per cell at apical end of cell, on concave surface with round wall thinnings in cell ends and angles; chlorophyllous cells triangular in transverse section and just enclosed on concave surface.
Sexual condition

dioicous.
Spores

21–25 µm; coarsely papillose on proximal and distal surfaces;

proximal laesura more than 0.5 spore radius.
Branch

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

branch stems with cortex enlarged with conspicuous retort cells, often pinkish red at proximal end.

Sphagnum wulfianum

Sphagnum angustifolium
Habitat Coniferous forests, and occasionally in Alnus or Salix karrs Wide range of habitats, from ombrotrophic to rich fens, open mires, sedge fens and muskeg, as carpets, floating mats, low hummocks and hummock sides
Elevation low to moderate elevations low to high elevations
Distribution
from FNA
CT; IL; IN; MA; ME; MI; MN; NH; NY; OH; PA; RI; VT; WI; AB; BC; MB; NB; NF; NS; ON; QC; Greenland; Eurasia
from FNA
AK; CA; CO; ID; IL; IN; MA; MD; ME; MI; MN; MO; MT; NC; ND; NH; NJ; NY; OH; OR; PA; UT; VA; VT; WA; WI; WV; WY; AB; BC; MB; NB; NF; NS; NT; ON; QC; SK; YT; Greenland; Eurasia
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Discussion

The sporophytes of Sphagnum wulfianum are moderately common. This is the most dry-growing species in North America, typically growing in association with Sphagnum centrale, S. girgensohnii, S. russowii, and S. squarrosum. It is easily recognized as the only species that regularly has more than six branches per fascicle. The Lycopodium clavatum-like growth habit and conifer swamp habitat along with the strongly 5-ranked branch leaves make it even easier to recognize in the field.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)

The sporophytes of Sphagnum angustifolium are somewhat common. This species is distinguished from similar ones in sect. Cuspidata by the small, triangular, obtuse and appressed stem leaves. It also often has a pink stem, as opposed to the reddish branch bases seen in some other species of the section. Sphagnum balticum has stem leaves that are more lingulate-triangular as well as spreading from the stem. Sphagnum angustifolium belongs to a subgroup within sect. Cuspidata usually referred to as S. recurvum, in the broad sense, a group of mostly carpet-forming species that differ from other members of the section in having pairs of pendent branch buds visible between the capitulum rays. The group also includes S. brevifolium, S. fallax, S. flexuosum, S. pacificum, S. recurvum, S. rubroflexuosum, and S. splendens.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Source FNA vol. 27, p. 85. FNA vol. 27, p. 64.
Parent taxa Sphagnaceae > Sphagnum > sect. Polyclada Sphagnaceae > Sphagnum > sect. Cuspidata
Sibling taxa
S. affine, S. alaskense, S. andersonianum, S. angermanicum, S. angustifolium, S. annulatum, S. aongstroemii, S. arcticum, S. atlanticum, S. austinii, S. balticum, S. bartlettianum, S. beothuk, S. bergianum, S. brevifolium, S. capillifolium, S. carolinianum, S. centrale, S. compactum, S. contortum, S. cribrosum, S. cuspidatum, S. cyclophyllum, S. fallax, S. fimbriatum, S. fitzgeraldii, S. flavicomans, S. flexuosum, S. fuscum, S. girgensohnii, S. henryense, S. imbricatum, S. inexspectatum, S. inundatum, S. isoviitae, S. jensenii, S. junghuhnianum, S. kenaiense, S. lenense, S. lescurii, S. lindbergii, S. macrophyllum, S. magellanicum, S. majus, S. mcqueenii, S. mendocinum, S. microcarpum, S. mirum, S. mississippiense, S. molle, S. obtusum, S. oregonense, S. orientale, S. pacificum, S. palustre, S. papillosum, S. perfoliatum, S. perichaetiale, S. platyphyllum, S. portoricense, S. pulchrum, S. pylaesii, S. quinquefarium, S. recurvum, S. riparium, S. rubellum, S. rubiginosum, S. rubroflexuosum, S. russowii, S. sitchense, S. splendens, S. squarrosum, S. steerei, S. strictum, S. subfulvum, S. subnitens, S. subsecundum, S. subtile, S. talbotianum, S. tenellum, S. tenerum, S. teres, S. torreyanum, S. trinitense, S. tundrae, S. viride, S. warnstorfii, S. wilfii
S. affine, S. alaskense, S. andersonianum, S. angermanicum, S. annulatum, S. aongstroemii, S. arcticum, S. atlanticum, S. austinii, S. balticum, S. bartlettianum, S. beothuk, S. bergianum, S. brevifolium, S. capillifolium, S. carolinianum, S. centrale, S. compactum, S. contortum, S. cribrosum, S. cuspidatum, S. cyclophyllum, S. fallax, S. fimbriatum, S. fitzgeraldii, S. flavicomans, S. flexuosum, S. fuscum, S. girgensohnii, S. henryense, S. imbricatum, S. inexspectatum, S. inundatum, S. isoviitae, S. jensenii, S. junghuhnianum, S. kenaiense, S. lenense, S. lescurii, S. lindbergii, S. macrophyllum, S. magellanicum, S. majus, S. mcqueenii, S. mendocinum, S. microcarpum, S. mirum, S. mississippiense, S. molle, S. obtusum, S. oregonense, S. orientale, S. pacificum, S. palustre, S. papillosum, S. perfoliatum, S. perichaetiale, S. platyphyllum, S. portoricense, S. pulchrum, S. pylaesii, S. quinquefarium, S. recurvum, S. riparium, S. rubellum, S. rubiginosum, S. rubroflexuosum, S. russowii, S. sitchense, S. splendens, S. squarrosum, S. steerei, S. strictum, S. subfulvum, S. subnitens, S. subsecundum, S. subtile, S. talbotianum, S. tenellum, S. tenerum, S. teres, S. torreyanum, S. trinitense, S. tundrae, S. viride, S. warnstorfii, S. wilfii, S. wulfianum
Synonyms S. recurvum var. angustifolium, S. amblyphyllum var. parvifolium, S. flexuosum var. tenue, S. parvifolium, S. recurvum var. parvifolium, S. recurvum var. tenue
Name authority Girgensohn: Arch. Naturk. Liv- Ehst- Kurlands, Ser. 2, Biol. Naturk. 2: 173. (1860) (Warnstorf) C. E. O. Jensen: Bih. Svenska Vetensk.-Akad. Handl. 16(9): 46. (1891)
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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