Status: Native
Synonyms:
Sphagnum bolanderi Warnstorf
The genus Sphagnum is notable in many respects, unlike other mosses in both macroscopic and microscopic characters. There
is a capitulum, or apical head of branches on the top of a stem with fascicles of branches underneath. Both the stem and branch
leaves have characters useful for keying out the plants. There are no rhizoids, and almost no seta but a pseudopodium of
gametophytic tissue that raises up the sporophyte which opens by explosive force. The cells of the leaves are of two alternating
types-- smaller more linear chlorophyllous cells and much larger water storing hyaline cells that are usually reinforced by spiral fibrils.
Sphagnum until recently had only been found in Valles Caldera in New Mexico. Sphagnum capillifolium is now
also known from New Mexico and both species are now known from multiple locations.
Sphagnum fimbriatum subsp. fimbriatum is found in rather loosely compacted colonies of slender green plants. There is no hint of
red at least in the plants found here. According to McQueen in Field Guide to the Peat Mosses of Boreal North America, the most
distinctive feature of Sphagnum fimbriatum subsp. fimbriatum is "the fan-shaped fimbriate stem leaves."
Many thanks to Eleanor Edye for help with moss identification in general, and Sphagnum ID specifically!
Please click on an image for a larger file.
Sphagnum fimbriatum subsp. fimbriatum, photo Russ Kleinman, Carey Anne Lafferty & Karen Blisard, Sandoval Cty., Valles Caldera, Alamo Canyon, June 22, 2019
Sphagnum fimbriatum subsp. fimbriatum, dark field photomicrograph of single plant, photo Russ Kleinman, Carey Anne Lafferty & Karen Blisard, Sandoval Cty., Valles Caldera, Alamo Canyon, June 22, 2019
Sphagnum fimbriatum subsp. fimbriatum, individual plants, photo Russ Kleinman, Carey Anne Lafferty & Karen Blisard, Sandoval Cty., Valles Caldera, Alamo Canyon, June 22, 2019
Sphagnum fimbriatum subsp. fimbriatum, habitat at Alamo bog, photo Russ Kleinman, Carey Anne Lafferty & Karen Blisard, Sandoval Cty., Valles Caldera, Alamo Canyon, June 22, 2019
Sphagnum fimbriatum subsp. fimbriatum, photomicrograph of branch leaf stained with Crystal Violet, photo Russ Kleinman, Carey Anne Lafferty & Karen Blisard, Sandoval Cty., Valles Caldera, Alamo Canyon, June 22, 2019
Sphagnum fimbriatum subsp. fimbriatum, photomicrograph of branch leaf stained with Crystal Violet, photo Russ Kleinman, Carey Anne Lafferty & Karen Blisard, Sandoval Cty., Valles Caldera, Alamo Canyon, June 22, 2019
Sphagnum fimbriatum subsp. fimbriatum, photomicrograph of branch leaf stained with Crystal Violet, photo Russ Kleinman, Carey Anne Lafferty & Karen Blisard, Sandoval Cty., Valles Caldera, Alamo Canyon, June 22, 2019
Sphagnum fimbriatum subsp. fimbriatum, photomicrograph of branch leaf cross section stained with Crystal Violet, photo Russ Kleinman, Carey Anne Lafferty & Karen Blisard, Sandoval Cty., Valles Caldera, Alamo Canyon, June 22, 2019
Sphagnum fimbriatum subsp. fimbriatum, 600x photomicrograph of branch leaf cells stained with Crystal Violet, photo Russ Kleinman, Carey Anne Lafferty & Karen Blisard, Sandoval Cty., Valles Caldera, Alamo Canyon, June 22, 2019
Sphagnum fimbriatum subsp. fimbriatum, photomicrograph of branch cross section stained with Crystal Violet, photo Russ Kleinman, Carey Anne Lafferty & Karen Blisard, Sandoval Cty., Valles Caldera, Alamo Canyon, June 22, 2019
Sphagnum fimbriatum subsp. fimbriatum, photomicrograph of stem leaf stained with Crystal Violet, photo Russ Kleinman, Carey Anne Lafferty & Karen Blisard, Sandoval Cty., Valles Caldera, Alamo Canyon, June 22, 2019
Sphagnum fimbriatum subsp. fimbriatum, photomicrograph of stem leaf stained with Crystal Violet, photo Russ Kleinman, Carey Anne Lafferty & Karen Blisard, Sandoval Cty., Valles Caldera, Alamo Canyon, June 22, 2019
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