Red Sphagnum

From: Barry Meyers-Rice (bamrice@ucdavis.edu)
Date: Tue Oct 27 1998 - 09:26:47 PST


Date: Tue, 27 Oct 1998 09:26:47 -0800 (PST)
From: Barry Meyers-Rice <bamrice@ucdavis.edu>
To: cp@opus.hpl.hp.com
Message-Id: <aabcdefg3412$foo@default>
Subject: Red Sphagnum


> Date: Mon, 26 Oct 1998 17:58:33 -0500

> I recently received a small tuft of sphagnum from a friend. He was hiking in
> West Virginia and while "in the bush" found a small bog containing large
> amounts of very red, coarse sphagnum.
>
> What factors influence this colouration? My best guess is that there is a
> very high tannic content to the surrounding water table in this bog.

Hi Mark,

It is probably because of the species of _Sphagnum_. Yes, there are many
species of this moss, some big-tufted, some small-tufted, some green, some
red. I recently saw a book on _Sphagnum_ identification, but didn't have
the spare cash to buy it.

In the US Northeast, I believe the most common red _Sphagnum_ is named
something like _Sphagnum magellanicum_.

Barry

------------------------
Dr. Barry A. Meyers-Rice
Carnivorous Plant Newsletter
Conservation Coeditor
barry@carnivorousplants.org
http://www.carnivorousplants.org



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