—82— 



unhesitatingly refer it to S. Fitzgeraldi; other specimens in the Mohr herbarium 

 collected at different times in the type locality are 5. suhsecundum. Correspond- 

 ing to its macroscopic features the leaf-cells will often be found to be shorter 

 and broader than in other forms of 5. cuspidatum, with more bulging walls, 

 especially on the inner surface, while the chlorophyll cells are more nearly 

 equally exposed on both outer and inner surfaces. The stem-leaves tend to be 

 large and like the branch-leaves. The cortical cells of the stem and the retort- 

 cells of the branches are rather large and thin-walled. None of these characters 

 are, however, sharply marked and all tend to vary more or less in the direction 

 of S. cuspidatum var. serrulatum. Even the large spores (35 /j, or slightly more) 

 with their somewhat irregular sculpturing I cannot entirely correlate with other 

 characters, as I find specimens from Florida apparently otherwi.se referable to 

 6". cuspidatum var. serrulatum that show spores quite equal to those of 6*. Fitzger- 

 aldi (35ju)- In fact Warnstorf^ gives the spores of S. cuspidatum as 25-35 ^i. 

 The spores in Sphagnum do not show strongly marked species characters either 

 in size, color or marking. The distinctive sculpturing of those of 5. Fitzgeraldi 

 was perhaps somewhat illusory, as Warnstorf makes no mention of it in his 

 latest work and I find in a good Florida specimen collected by Rapp only low 

 and rather large warty protuberances, a condition quite intermediate between 

 those of two specimens of S. cuspidatum var. serrulatum also collected by Rapp 

 in the same general region. Warnstorf 's figure is apparently to be interpreted 

 in the same way, as is evident from study of the type material. 



The plant is now known from North Carolina,^ Georgia, Florida and Alabama, 

 which places it clearly as one of the new developments of our southern Atlantic 

 and Gulf coasts. The serrulate forms of S. cuspidatum do not elsewhere show 

 similar tendencies and whoever has reasonable scruples about maintaining 5. 

 Fitzgeraldi as a distinct species must at least give it taxonomic standing as no 

 casual form, but a strongly marked variety of definite range in a region character 

 ized by a number of such independent Sphagnum forms. 



22. Sphagnum Duse?iii Jensen, 1890. This species was first distinguisheu 

 as var. majus of 6'. cuspidatum by Russow in 1865.^ There is only one clea 

 diagnostic character to separate it from S. cuspidatum, viz., the very large pores 

 appearing usually in considerable number on the outer surface of the branch- 

 leaf, a feature entirely foreign to typical 5'. cuspidatum. One wishing to deny the 

 moss species-value could point to the fact that in submerged specimens these 

 pores have a troublesome tendency to reduction and even disappearance with the 

 narrowing of the leaves and their empty cells characteristic of submerged forms. 

 I am convinced, however, that the species is better founded than many others. 



6 Pflanzenreich 51 : 264. 191 1. 



^ The North Carolina locality though not indicated in literature before 1913 shows apparently 

 the oldest collection of this species. The specimen is in the SuUivant Herbarium labeled "Sphag- 

 num ? Swamps near Wilmington, N. C, collected by A. Gray, Oct., 1843. " It is mixed with frag- 

 ments, of 5. macrophyllum. 



^ Beitr. z. Kenntn. d. Torfm. 58. 



