— 7— 



5. ^urfaceum'^^ reduced by Russow^^^ and Limpricht^^^ to S. palustre 

 he still insists^*^ are 5. imbricatum var. affine, I can express no inde- 

 pendent opinion upon the Earopean forms in question, though I hav^ 

 little doubt from the literature mentioned that Russow and Limpricht 

 are right ; however, I can state very definitely that North Ameri- 

 can specimens from the Pacific coast region ascribed by Warnstorf to 

 5. turfaceum and later with the withdrawal of that species, labelled 

 5. imbricatum var. affine are S. palustre, the variety of S. imbricatum 

 being entirely unknown from our Pacific coast, in fact from the whole 

 region of distribution of 5. imbricatum except Europe and eastern 

 North America. Within this range it seems to be infrequent in 

 Europe and in eastern North America hardly reaches as far south as 

 the typical form. Along the New England coast it is abundant ; it 

 has been found as far from the coast as West Virginia. 



3. Sphagnum palustre Linne 1753. Though it may seem strange to 

 bryologists to see the familiar S. cymbifolium displaced by this older 

 Linnean name, the restoration goes back to Lindberg. who studied 

 the Dillenian herbarium and recognized the identity of the specimen 

 in question. ^■''^ The species is in its typical form easily determinable, 

 but its delimitation in either direction difficult. Its branch leaves 

 show in section chlorophyll cells isosceles triangular with narrow base, 

 straight or outwardly curving legs, thin walls, triangular to somewhat 

 ovate-triangular lumen. The plant thus characterized is the most 

 common of the subgenus in the northern hemisphere, where it is very 

 generally distributed ; though it has been regarded as cosmopolitan, 

 its occurrence in the southern hemisphere is much in need of further 

 investigation ; in the case of South American specimens I have seen 

 none that seemed clearly referable to this species, nor does Warnstorf 

 accredit it to Central or South America. In North America it is 

 common from Newfoundland southward to the Gulf states (Florida 

 to Texas), from California to Alaska and far inland. 'Ihis occurrence 

 well throughout the north temperate zone seems to correspond with 

 its distribution in Europe and Asia. 



Under somewhat abnormal conditions the chlorophyll cells may 

 be relatively more strongly developed, becoming wider and more or 

 less trapezoidal in section, with bases exposed on both surfaces of 



(1) Schriften der Naturf. Ges. Danzig, N. F. , IX Bd., 2 Hft. 1896; I have not 

 seen this description. 



(2) Zur Kenntnis der Subsecundum und Cymbifoliumgruppe europaeischer Torf- 

 moose, 90. 1894. 



(3) Rabenhorst, Kryptogamenflora43: 605. 1901. 



(4) Kryptogamenflora der Mark Brandenburg 1: 325. 1903. 



(5) Europas och Nord Amerikas Hvitmossor, 21. 1882; Kritisk Granskning at 

 Mossorna uti Dillenii Historia Muscorum, 13. 1883; cf. also Druce and Vines, 

 The Dillenian Herbarium, 202. 1907. 



(6) Hedwigia 33: 336. 1894. 



