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Mer Bleue Conservation Area, a large, protected Sphagnum bog near Ottawa, Ontario, Canada The latter have the large water-holding capacity. The leaves consist of two kinds of cells: small, green, living cells (chlorophyllose cells), and large, clear, structural, dead cells (hyaline cells). Along the stem are scattered leaves of various shapes, named stem leaves the shape varies according to species. The top of the plant, or capitulum, has compact clusters of young branches. Individual peat moss plants consist of a main stem, with tightly arranged clusters of branch fascicles usually consisting of two or three spreading branches and two to four hanging branches. Different species of Sphagnum have different tolerance limits for flooding and pH, so any one peatland may have a number of different Sphagnum species. Under the right conditions, peat can accumulate to a depth of many meters. Peat moss can also acidify its surroundings by taking up cations, such as calcium and magnesium, and releasing hydrogen ions. In addition, bogs, like all wetlands, develop anaerobic soil conditions, which produces slower anaerobic decay rather than aerobic microbial action. Sphagnum and the peat formed from it do not decay readily because of the phenolic compounds embedded in the moss's cell walls. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK. Wetland Ecology: Principles and Conservation (2nd edition). These peat accumulations then provide habitat for a wide array of peatland plants, including sedges and ericaceous shrubs, as well as orchids and carnivorous plants.Keddy, P. Sphagnum: the biology of a habitat manipulator. Thus, sphagnum can influence the composition of such habitats, with some describing sphagnum as 'habitat manipulators'.Walker, M. Hence, as sphagnum moss grows, it can slowly spread into drier conditions, forming larger mires, both raised bogs and blanket bogs. The empty cells help retain water in drier conditions.

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 to 26 times as much water as their dry weight, depending on the species.Bold, H. Sphagnum is a genus of approximately 380 accepted species of mosses, commonly known as sphagnum moss, peat moss, also bog moss and quacker moss (although that term is also sometimes used for peat).