Also Europe and Asia. Ombrotrophic sphagnum bogs and minerotrophic fens in moist coastal and boreal forests. Grows on peat in poorly drained sites with a very high water table. The ground may be saturated for most or part of the year. The bog sites derive water from precipitation only and are generally nutrient-poor and low in productivity.
Bogs are generally level but are often patterned by scattered mounds of sphagnum moss.
Small Cranberry often grows on these hummocks. One of the first colonizers of burned bogs, increasing in abundance with repeated fires. Shade intolerant , generally only present as a relic in climax bogs that have developed a conifer overstory. An indicator of moist to very wet, nitrogen-poor soils and high surface groundwater. Also an indicator of coniferous swamps.