Peat mosses of the Southeastern United States
By: Lewis E. Anderson, A. Jonathan Shaw, Blanka Shaw
Contributors: Shaw, A. Jonathan (Arthur Jonathan); Shaw, Blanka; New York Botanical Garden
Series: Memoirs of the New York Botanical Garden -- v. 102; Memoirs of the New York Botanical Garden -- v. 102.
Publisher: New York Botanical Garden
Published: 2009
Place of publication: Bronx, N.Y
Language: eng
Number of pages: 110
ISBN-13: 9780893275051
Subjects: Mossen; Bladmossen; Peat mosses
Description: "Sphagnum, commonly known as peat moss, is widely used in agriculture, horticulture, and floriculture. Living plants are colorful and add much to the beauty of wetlands. It takes little training to recognize the genus, and most of the sections are almost as easy to recognize. Yet they are scarcely noticed by field botanists, and even bryologists tend to avoid them; they have a reputation of being taxonomically difficult but this applies only to a subset. There are few taxonomic treatments of Sphagnum in North America, yet it is a fascinating genus whose species comprise an integral part of nearly all fresh-water wetlands. Almost all significant critical taxonomic characters are microscopic and require dissections and staining, which can, with a little practice, be easily self-taught. Even with a moderate amount of field experience, however, a novice can learn to recognize sections and some species in the field with certainty (although there are many species that even experts cannot distinguish without a compound microscope). All field identifications need to be confirmed microscopically. This volume will aid those who venture into identifying peat mosses."--Publisher's description.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references (p. [107]-108) and index.
Table of contents: title: Introduction; title: Physiography; title: Natural plant communities; title: Life history; title: Morphology; title: Collecting and preparing specimens; title: Identification; title: Morphological variability; title: Systematic treatment: Sphagnum; title: Acutifolia; title: Squarrosa; title: Rigida; title: Cuspidata; title: Subsecunda; title: Isocladus.