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Sphagnum angustifolium
Stems without a hyalodermis, small triangular non-porose stem leaves, and branch leaf hyaline cells having a prominent rounded apical pore, along with green cells exposed on the convex surface are key features. Without stem leaves, this species cannot be distinguished from S. fallax (which is rare in the continental boreal region), nor S. balticum, which is northern in distribution. Without stem leaves, these three species often must be grouped together as Section Cuspidatum [or S. augustifolium group]; however, other species of the section can be distinguished and placed in individual species categories.
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Clockwise from top left, Sphagnum angustifolium in the field, whole leaf, concave cells, convex cells, stem leaf |
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| Habit | Yellow-green, fluffy plants with loose canopies, two pendent branches visible between capitulum arms. |
| Stems | clear, without hyalodernis, non-porose. |
| Leaves | ovate-lanceolate, minutely truncate at apex; stem leaves small, triangular, blunt to slightly erose at apex, without pores and fibrils. |
| Leaf Cells | Hyaline cells with an apical rounded-elliptic pore at cell apex on convex surface, occasionally a second pore just beneath; additional pores restricted to hyaline cell corners, on concave surface several rounded rather inconspicuous pores in central part of cells; green cells triangular, exposed on convex surface. |
| Alar Cells | |
| Habitat | Perhaps the most common species across the continental boreal area, where it forms loose lawns in poor fens and bogs. It is also sometimes abundant in drier carpets in internal lawns and collapse scars, Replaced in more mesotrophic situations and in less continental areas by S. fallax. Wetter oligotrophic carpets and pools have a number of other species including S. cuspidatum, S. jensenii, and S. majus; more mesotrophic carpets have S. riparium. Sphagnum balticum is more northern. |
| Common Associates | In poor fens occasionally associated with Tomenthypnum falcifolium; in fens transitional to rich fens, sometimes occurring with S. teres or S. warnstorfii. |
pH Meter
