Greenheart Canopy Walkway

« Previous Day: Ranunculus californicus | Main | Next Day: Neomoorea wallisii »
Nov 4, 2009: Crataegus mexicana
Nov 4, 2008: Cornus canadensis
Nov 4, 2007: Sternbergia lutea
Nov 4, 2006: Pinus contorta var. latifolia 'Chief Joseph'
Nov 4, 2005: Vineyard near Osoyoos, British Columbia

April 3, 2006 : Sphagnum squarrosum

Interested in subscribing? Visit the main Botany Photo of the Day page and fill out the form in the upper right corner!

Keywords: Sphagnaceae | Sphagnum squarrosum Crome

Sphagnum squarrosum

I'm on vacation, so only a short written accompaniment today. – Daniel

Spread-leaved peat moss or rough peat moss is native to wet, acidic areas of Asia, Europe, North America, northern Africa, New Zealand and Greenland according to the Moss Flora of China entry on Sphagnum squarrosum.

Although it is very easy to recognize the distinctive peat moss from other mosses, identification of individual Sphagnum species often requires the use of a microscope. Complicating matters is that a sample of peat mosses may contain more than one species growing within the same clump (a personal observation).

Posted by Daniel Mosquin at April 3, 2006 12:00 AM

Read recent comments on all BPotD Entries

Comments

My mother told me, that during WW1 they harvested Sphagnum moss, to be used for wound dressing, can anyone confirm this?

Posted by: Bg Al at April 3, 2006 7:17 AM

Happy Birthday Daniel!

Posted by: Logan at April 3, 2006 10:25 AM

See www.cbmh.ca/archive/00000176/01/cbmhbchm_v6n1riegler.pdf
for information about this. Or google for 'sphagnum wound dressing war' to find other links.

I must say, the distribution seems very odd indeed. How on earth did New Zealand get it, when it seems otherwise to be very northern hemisphere?

Posted by: Maire Smith at April 3, 2006 2:16 PM

Hmmm, my class recently did a science experiment with Sphagnum moss. We tested to see how much water it would absorb in ten mintues. I can't quite remember, but I think it gained around 80 grams after being in the water.

Posted by: Sammi at April 5, 2006 9:38 PM

yes, my grandmom told me the same. Spagnum was actually used as a wound dressing dare to it's desinfiction qualityes.

Posted by: max at March 4, 2008 8:08 AM

Please share your comments about the photograph(s) and accompanying write-up. Telling a story about the subject of the photograph(s) is also much appreciated! If you have a gardening question, the best place to ask is on the UBC Botanical Garden Forums. Thank you!

Post a comment




Remember Me?

(you may use HTML tags for style)

XML Feeds: Atom | RSS 2.0 | RSS 1.0 | What is RSS? | RSS Tools

Locations of visitors to this page

Creative Commons License
Botany Photo of the Day and all associated images are licensed under a Creative Commons License except when otherwise specified in the accompanying written entry.

About Botany Photo of the Day | Submit Your Photos via Flickr | Submit Your Photos via UBCBG's Discussion Forums

Botany Photo of the Day is a project of the UBC Botanical Garden and Centre for Plant Research, located in Vancouver, British Columbia Canada. UBC BGCPR is a department of the Faculty of Land and Food Systems within The University of British Columbia.