2. SPHAGNUM. Dill.
[Dr. Braithwaite is at present publishing in the “Monthly Microscopical Journal” a Monograph of this genus, but as he has only got some three or four species described, I regret that I cannot avail myself of his valuable researches, and can only publish such species as are known to me. His division of species is as follows:—
| A. | 1 | S. cymbifolium Ehr. |
| B. | 2 | S. tenellum Ehr. |
| 3 | S. rubellum Wils. | |
| 4 | S. neglectum Angst. | |
| 5 | S. subsecundum N. von E. | |
| C. | 6 | S. molle Sulot. |
| 7 | S. rigidum. N. H. & S. | |
| D. | 8 | S. squarrosum Pers. |
| 9 | S. teres Angst. | |
| 10 | S. acutifolium Ehr. | |
| 11 | S. strictum Lindb. | |
| 12 | S. fimbriatum Wils. | |
| 13 | S. Lindbergii Schp. | |
| 14 | S. intermedium Hoff. | |
| 15 | S. cuspidatum Ehr.] |
Sect. I. Leaves obtuse roundish or elliptical.
a. Utricles of branches lined with spiral fibres.
10. S. cymbifolium. Ehr. St. 3–12 inches robust tufted solid, covered with a cortical web. Stem l. lingulate-spathulate with a rounded apex; br. l. imbricate broadly ovate concave cucullate and muriculate at apex; caps. large globose on a short seta: dioicous.
Bogs, common. VI. VII.
b. Branch cells without spiral fibres.
11. S. compactum. Brid. St. erect, 2–4in. dichotomous, densely cæspitose; branches crowded short, almost erect, br. l. ovate-subulate, obtuse, concave, slightly cucullate and smooth at apex, præmorse with 3–4 teeth; st. l. small elliptical: dioicous.
Wet moors. VII. VIII.
12. S. tenellum. Ehr. (S. molluscum. Bruch.) Stems rarely 2in. slender, soft, fragile, branches similar; l. erecto-patent reflexed, ovate-oblong, with a broadish border, very concave on the branches, pale yellowish white; utricles of the branches between the leaves recurved at points; caps. small orange-red, on a long pedicel: dioicous.
Wet hollows on peat bogs. V. VI.
13. S. rubellum. Wils. St. 2–5in. slender loosely tufted with slender deflexed sometimes curved branches; st. l. large ovate-oblong concave obtuse sub-secund with a minutely toothed apex; br. l. ovate or oblong-ovate, margins indexed, capsule almost included: dioicous.
Peat mosses, fr. rare. VI. VII.
Sect. II. Leaves acuminate, ovate, or ovate-lanceolate.
a. Leaves erecto-patent.
14. S. acutifolium. Ehr. St. 3–6in. with slender attenuated branches; stem. l. small ovate acute erect; branch l. ovate-lanceolate slightly præmorse with a 3–4 toothed apex, erecto-patent, often with a pinkish tinge, sometimes almost white; pedicel long; monoicous.
Bogs and marshes. VI. VII.
15. S. fimbriatum. Wils. St. slender 6–12in. loosely cæspitose, with slender deflexed branches; st. l. obovate broad very obtuse, and fringed at the summit; br. l. ovate-lanceolate acute erecto-patent, whitish, never reddish; p. l. very large obtuse, cucullate; caps. on a short pedicel, nearly enclosed in the per. leaves: monoicous.
Bogs and marshes. VI. VII.
16. S. cuspidatum. Dill. Ehr. St. 3–12in., flaccid with distant deflexed attenuated branches, the younger ones cuspidate; st. l. ovate acute, br. l. lanceolate acute præmorse slightly fringed and bordered; per. l. broadly ovate, acute, ped. short: dioicous.
Wet bogs. VI. VII.
17. S. recurvum. P. Beauv. “Distinguished from the last by its branch leaves, recurved when dry, elliptical, not attenuated towards the apex; usually growing out of the water, whilst S. cuspidatum is almost submerged.”—G. E. Hunt.
Common in bogs.
var. δ. laricinum. Spruce. l. loosely imbricated, slightly undulate when dry, areolæ very minute.
18. S. contortum. Schultz. St. 3–6in. rigid blackish, “with a single layer of cortical cellules”, and with crowded generally contorted attenuated branches; leaves ovate-lanceolate, acute concave, frequently 3–toothed at the apex, the cellules bordered with a row of small pores at the back of the leaf: dioicous.
Bogs and ditches. VII.
var. γ. obesum; stem more robust, branches thicker and longer, leaves larger.
19. S. subsecundum. Nees & H. Allied to contortum, but more lax in habit, stems more slender, with shorter branches and with the branch leaves generally more or less secund.
20. S. curvifolium. Wils. MS. Allied to the last; stem with a cortical layer of two or three rows of cellules, leaves without marginal pores, entire, acute.
b. Leaves squarrose.
21. S. squarrosum. Pers. St. 4–12in. rigid, often forked, with long deflexed attenuated branches; l. ovate-acuminate acute, recurved; caps. large on a longish pedicel.
Bogs. VI. VII.