Sphagnum fuscum Sphagnum fuscum Sphagnum fuscum, the rusty bogmoss or rusty peat moss, is a peat moss found commonly in Norway and Sweden, and can be found scattered across North America, the United Kingdom, and in southern to eastern Europe. "Sphagnum fuscum" is brown to greenish brown in color with slender brown stems. It is individually less robust than other peat mosses, especially when clumped into compact hummocks. The moss will form thread-like branches interwoven within hummocks. The leaves along the stem are tongue-shaped, while the leaves along the branches are pointed and lance-shaped. During the sporophyte stage, the moss will have
Sphagnum short-lived, and consists almost entirely of a shiny green, spherical spore capsule that becomes black with spores. Sporophytes are raised on stalks to facilitate spore dispersal, but unlike other mosses, "Sphagnum" stalks are produced by the maternal gametophyte. Tetrahedral haploid spores are produced in the sporophyte by meiosis, which are then dispersed when the capsule explosively discharges its cap, called an operculum, and shoots the spores some distance. The spores germinate to produce minute protonemae, which start as filaments, can become thalloid, and can produce a few rhizoids. Soon afterwards, the protonema develops buds and these differentiate into its characteristic,