Mosses and Lichens 



wet, brittle when dry, branch leaves short. Example: Sphag- 

 num molle. (See diagram, page 125.) 



5. Subsecunda. Branch-leaves more or less turned to one 

 side or strongly curved and more or less folded. 

 Example: Sphagnum subsecundum. (See diagram, 

 page 123.) 



6. Cymbiformia. Plants robust; stem-leaves 

 large, tongue or boat-shaped, branch-leaves very 



concave. Example: Sphagnum 

 cymbifolium. (See diagram, page 

 123.) 



7. Cyclophylla. Plants not 

 crowded, stems short, usually 

 without short hanging branches; 

 leaves loosely overlapping, 

 roundish or oval, with a broad 

 blunt apex. 



Acute-leaved Peat-moss 

 (Sphagnum acuti folium), Ehrh.- 

 See Colour Plate XI. 

 Habit and habitat. Green or purple or red, common in open, 

 shaded bogs, in valleys or on mountains; many varieties are 

 noted; the variations due to their special habitat. 



Name. The specific name acutifolium is compounded of two 

 Latin words acutus, sharp, and folium, a leaf, referring to the 

 apex of the leaf. 



Plants (gametophyte) . Stem without pores in the triple layer 

 of cells which form the outer covering ; cluster branches spreading, 

 3 to 5, one to two pendent. 



Branch. Leaf. 



Sphagnum cyclophylla. 



Transverse section of leaf. 



Part of cross section of stem 

 showing triple layer of cells. 



Sphagnum acutifolium. 



Leaves. Stem-leaves large, erect, oval or tongue-shaped; apex 

 irregularly notched; with the large cells lined with a few or no 



124 



