Sphagnum palustre Sphagnum palustre Sphagnum palustre (Syn. "Sphagnum cymbifolium"), the prairie sphagnum or blunt-leaved bogmoss, is a species of peat moss from the genus "Sphagnum", in the family Sphagnaceae. Like other mosses of this type it can soak up water up to the 30-fold amount of its own dry weight thanks to its elastic spiral fibers. "S. palustre" is rather frequent and is spread almost all over the world. It mainly grows in wet forests and—compared to other specimens of this genus—rarely grows in moors. "Sphagnum palustre" forms firm plants up to 25 centimeter height. The plants are often light green to
Aulacomnium palustre plant communities, and individual moss species often have low cover and/or frequency. Moss species with coverages of 2% to 4% can be common to dominant in boreal communities, although ribbed bog moss attains coverages as great as 40% in some boreal communities. Ribbed bog moss grows in open and forested wetland communities. In unforested northern communities, ribbed bog moss is found in sedge ("Carex" spp.) meadows, sphagnum ("Sphagnum" spp.) peatlands, heath-sedge fens, and willow ("Salix" spp.)-dominated fens. In forests, ribbed bog moss grows in the ground layer of boreal and subboreal white spruce ("Picea glauca"), black spruce ("P. mariana"), mixed