SPHAGNACE/E. > 3 



In colour the various species of Sphagnum vary from white 

 through all shades of pink and reddish brown to a rich deep red, 

 and through every tint of green and greenish yellow to a bright 

 grass green. In shady situations green is the prevailing tint ; in 

 the open the red tints frequently preponderate, owing to the 

 formation of tannin. Within certain limits the colour may be 

 looked upon as a character of importance in distinguishing species, 

 and it is a curious fact that in forms of S. acutifolium growing 

 in shady places, while the rest of the plant is entirely green, 

 the male amentula invariably show traces of red. When dry the 

 plant loses much of its green hue, presumably on account of the 

 much greater shrinking of the contents of the chlorophyllose 

 cells in proportion to that of the empty colourless hyaline ones. 



The length to which the stem of a Sphagnum plant may grow 

 is practically indefinite. When growing loosely in ditches or 

 deep pools the stems are sometimes gathered several feet long ; 

 Wilson mentions a specimen seven feet in length from near 

 Edinburgh. As a rule, however, and especially when growing 

 on drier ground, where growth is slower and exposure to the air 

 renders decay more rapid, the lower part of the stem becomes 

 fragile and decomposed as rapidly as the apical part elongates, 

 and from the more compact forms it is often difficult to obtain 

 unbroken specimens of more than a few inches in height, although 

 below this there may be a considerable depth of substance 

 composed entirely of remains of the Sphagnum plant. The 

 lengths given in the descriptions of the different species must, 

 therefore, be looked upon only as affording a means of comparison 

 between species, not as an indication of the maximum height they 

 may attain. 



The stem is normally dichotomous, a secondary stem being 

 formed each year below the apex, and when these secondary 

 stems are fully developed we have the repeatedly forked axis 

 which by its constantly increasing ramifications produces the dense 

 rounded cushions so characteristic of the peat-mosses. It does 

 not however happen that all of these secondary branches are 

 developed ; indeed, several years' growth usually takes place 

 without dividing : hence it is rarely that a plant is gathered 

 showing more than two or three forkings. 



The structure of the cell tissue, as well as the general 

 arrangement of the parts of the Sphagnum plant, renders it 

 peculiarly adapted to the absorption and conduction of water. 

 In this way, if a plant or a tuft of Sphagnum is placed in 

 water, the latter is very rapidly soaked up and distributed over 

 the whole plant, from the surface of which it can easily pass by 



