Mosses and Lichens 



The Spread-leaved Sphagnum (Sphagnum squarrosum), 

 Pers. See Plate XII. 



Habit and habitat. Bluish-green, stout, loosely crowded, the 

 summits appearing like edelweiss, almost white when dry; com- 

 mon in boggy places. 



Name. The specific name is the Latin squarrosum, scurfy, 

 applied to describe the scale-like leaves of the stem. 



Plant (gametophyte) . Stems solid, simple or 

 forking, red; cluster-branches 

 4 to 5, 2 to 3 divergent, the 

 others pendent and appressed. 



Leaf at base of 

 Stem leaves: pedicel. 



Sphagnum squarrosum. 



Female branch. 



Leaves. Stem leaves soft, spreading or turned backward from 

 the stem, tongue-shaped; apex rounded and ragged; branch-leaves 

 spreading widely and abruptly from the middle of the branch 

 oblong lance-shaped, apex four-toothed. 



Leaves at the base of the spore-case (perichatial leaves). Very 

 broad, thin apex rounded and notched. 



Habit of flowering. Male and female flowers generally on the 

 same plants (monoicous). 



Spore-case. Large, nearly spherical, shining dark brown, 

 numerous at and near the summit of the plant. 



Spores. Yellow, mature in August and September. 



Distribution. North America, Europe, Asia, Africa. 



The Boat-leaved Moss (Sphagnum cymbi folium), Ehrh. 

 See Plate III. 



Habit and habitat. Common in bogs, robust, yellow-green 

 or red, densely crowded when growing out of water, rarely 

 floating, male plants slender with thick flower-clusters. 



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