Vol. XXII 
September, 1919 
No. 5 
NOTES ON NORTH AMERICAN SPHAGNUM— VIII 
A. LeRoy Andrews 
The Group Cuspidata Lindberg (Continued) 
19. Sphagnum tenellum Persoon, 1798. This species is commonly referred 
to by Warnstorf and others as Sphagnum molluscum Bruch, 1825, though the 
name admittedly lacks priority. S. tenellum (as synonym) is by Warnstorf 
cited as of (Ehrhardt) Lindberg and dated 1862, but as a matter of fact Lind- 
berg, in the place referred to by Warnstorf, 1 says nothing whatever about Ehr- 
hardt, but accredits the species to Persoon on the basis of his manuscript name 
and B ridel's publication in his Mantissa (1819) and says Persoon was the first 
to discover it, in the Harz (Hercynia). Lindberg’s ascription of the species to 
Ehrhardt is found in a later work, viz. Europas och Nordamerikas Hvitmossor, 
22 ff. 1882, and is based upon a specimen of Ehrhardt’s (f 1795) in the herbarium 
of the Academy of Science at St. Petersburg labeled 11 Sphagnum tenellum mihi.” 
This is however not a publication, and the reference to Persoon ’s specimen under 
the name 5 . tenellum in Hoffmann, Deutschlands Flora, II, 22. 1795, is also not 
such as to constitute publication. The earliest proper publication (with de- 
scription) of the species is in Bridel’s Muscologia Recentiorum, II, 1, p. 223. 
As Bridel here definitely credits the species to Persoon, there is hardly anything 
further to be said. Dusen 2 also has the facts clear, though he calls the species 
S. tenellum Bridel. Warnstorf had himself examined the Bridel herbarium in 
Berlin and seen that Bridel’s specimen really represents this species. 3 His as- 
tounding reason 4 for preferring the later name, that Bridel might possibly not 
have distinguished from his (or Persoon’s) species slender forms belonging to 
other species, is subscribed to by Cardot. 5 The fact that there is a later (in- 
valid) A. tenellum (Schimper) Klinggraff, 1872 does not of course invalidate 
the older one. 
1 Ofv. kgl. Vet.-Akad. Forh., XIX, 142. 1862. 
2 Sphagnaceernas utbredning, 13 f. 1887. 
3 Bot. Centralblatt, IX, 99. 1882. 
4 Verh. bot. Ver. Prov. Brandenburg, XXXII, 227. 1891. 
6 Repertoire sphagnologique, 337 f. 1897* 
The July number of The Bryologist was published Sept. 8 , 1919. 
