ALASKAN SPECIES OF SPHAGNUM 



BY WILLIAM TRELEASE 



SINCE much of the Alaskan coast region is very humid, with 

 frequent rainfall or mist, while in the north an almost continu- 

 ous tundra exists, saturated with moisture when not frozen, the 

 peat mosses or Sphagna are everywhere very abundantly rep- 

 resented in individuals, and, considering the genus as a whole, 

 in species or the varieties into which specialists have divided 

 what they regard as species. So far as I have been able to 

 consult the publications referring to this region, eleven species 

 and five additional varieties, not counting the forms of the lat- 

 ter that are sometimes distinguished, have thus far been re- 

 ported as Alaskan. These, and the localities where they are 

 said to occur, when the latter are more than ' Alaska,' have 

 been incorporated in the following catalogue, the references 

 being made clear by an appended list of the publications re- 

 ferred to. 



Several members of the Harriman Expedition paid special 

 attention to this obscure group of plants in collecting, and, 

 though few of the specimens could be found in fruit, a large 

 number were brought back. These, together with such other 

 Alaskan material as could be found in the herbaria of the Mis- 

 souri Botanical Garden and the United States National Museum, 

 and a few specimens collected along Prince William Sound by 

 Professor Setchell, were submitted to Dr. C. Warnstorf, the 

 recognized authority on the group, whose determinations have 

 been merely tabulated by the writer with reference to the geo- 



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