Sphagnum

Flatberg, Kjell I., Afonina, Olga M., Mamontov, Yuriy S., Fedosov, Vladimir E. & Ignatova, Elena A., 2016, On Sphagnum mirum (subgen. Squarrosa) and S. olafii (subgen. Acutifolia), Arctoa 25 (1), pp. 96-101 : 96

KEYWORDS: Sphagnum , rare species, subgenus Acutifolia , subgenus Squarrosa , Asian Russia.

Recent exploration of Asian Russia in terms of peat mosses revealed a number of species new for this huge territory and made an addition to their known distribution ( Maksimov, 2007; Maksimov & Ignatova, 2008; Maksimov et al., 2016). However, several recently described arctic species have not been recorded there in spite of wide distribution of Arctic landscapes in northern Asia and rather intensely studied local moss floras (Afonina, 2004; Fedosov et al., 2011).

Recent revision of peat moss collections from sect. Squarrosa kept in MW revealed a new locality of Sphagnum mirum in eastern Taimyr (collected by VF, identified by KF). The first author also identified S. mirum in the course of his study of specimens from Zabaikalsky Territory in LE, as well as S. olafii , another poorly known Arctic species. The latter species was also found among specimens from Chukotka Peninsula collected by OA. In the present paper, we provide an overview of these records, the description and illustrations of these species based on Russian specimens and their distinction from similar species.