Sphagnum Sphagnum Sphagnum is a genus of approximately 380 accepted species of mosses, commonly known as "peat moss". Accumulations of "Sphagnum" can store water, since both living and dead plants can hold large quantities of water inside their cells; plants may hold 16–26 times as much water as their dry weight, depending on the species. The empty cells help retain water in drier conditions. Hence, as sphagnum moss grows, it can slowly spread into drier conditions, forming larger mires, both raised bogs and blanket bogs. These peat accumulations then provide habitat for a wide array of peatland plants, including sedges and
Scheuchzeria species was known from, and only one where it currently occurs; it is extinct at a few other wetland sites further south in Britain, being found in pools and west hollows of ancient undisturbed Sphagnum bogs. Scheuchzeria Scheuchzeria palustris (Rannoch-rush, or pod grass), is a flowering plant in the family Scheuchzeriaceae, in which there is only one species and Scheuchzeria is the only genus. In the APG II system it is placed in the order Alismatales of the monocots. It is a herbaceous perennial plant, native to cool temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere, where it grows in wet "Sphagnum"