 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
Sphagnum obtusum
This species is troublesome, mainly because the definitive characters must be recognized. My mental approach is that when I have plants with blunt stem leaves (i.e., not S. fallax or S. angustifolium) and when I can find nearly no pores in the upper part of the leaves, then I heavily stain and look for the very small pseudopores in the lower part of the leaves, especially noticeable along the lower marginal areas. The other key character are the long (linear-elongate) lower hyaline cells. The habitat preferences of this species are not well known.
 |
 |
|---|
L to R: whole leaf, example of pores |
|---|
| Habit | Plant brownish-green to shiny green, robust and stout, branch ends obtuse, 1-2 pendent branches visible between capitulum arms. |
| Stems | Hyalodermis not or only slightly enlarged, stem core colorless. |
| Leaves | Ovate-lanceolate and gradually narrowed to a narrowly truncate apex, margins somewhat wavy; stem leaves oblong-triangular, obtuse and erose at apex, rather flat, without fibrils and pores. |
| Leaf Cells | Very long, especially in basal leaf area, with almost no true pores or with a small apical pores and 1-3 corner pores on both surfaces in upper portion of leaf, lower portion of leaves with numerous very small ,pseudopores (membrane thinnings) in medial portion of cell and in 1-2 irregular rows - seen only with heavy staining. |
| Habitat | |
| Common Associates | In wet fens, especially in more minerotrophic habitats. |
pH Meter
