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Peat Moss
Sphagnum flexuosum
33.9496, -117.284
Field Notes
Description:
Individual peat moss plants consist of a main stem, with tightly arranged clusters of branch fascicles usually consisting of two or three spreading branches and two to four hanging branches. The top of the plant, or capitulum, has compact clusters of young branches. Along the stem are scattered leaves of various shape, named stem leaves; the shape varies according to species. The leaves consist of two kinds of cell; small, green, living cells (chlorophyllose cells), and large, clear, structural, dead cells (hyaline cells). The latter have the large water-holding capacity.
Habitat:
Peat mosses occur mainly in the Northern Hemisphere where different species dominate the top layer of peat bogs and moist tundra areas. The northernmost populations of peat moss lie in the archipelago of Svalbard, Arctic Norway at 81° N.
In the Southern Hemisphere, the largest peat moss areas are in New Zealand, Tasmania, southernmost Chile and Argentina, but contain comparatively few species. Many species are reported from mountainous, subtropical Brazil, but uncertainty exists regarding the specific status of many of them.
Notes:
Very likely in moist areas where sunlight does not hit directly.
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