About Sphagnum fuscum (Schimp.) H.Klinggr.
Sphagnum fuscum (Schimp.) H.Klinggr. ranges in color from brown to greenish brown, and has slender brown stems. Individual plants are less robust than other peat moss species, particularly when they grow clumped into compact hummocks. This moss produces thread-like branches that become interwoven within these hummocks. Its stem leaves are tongue-shaped, while its branch leaves are pointed and lance-shaped. During the sporophyte stage, this species grows a short stalk around 1 to 2 millimeters long, topped with a brown capsule that measures about 1 to 1.5 millimeters. Sphagnum fuscum prefers to grow in older, drier bogs, where it forms hummocks. In bogs dominated by black spruce, it grows as extensive ground cover. It most often inhabits more acidic soils, with a pH range of 3.6 to 7.5, and can colonize areas at high elevations. This is a circumpolar species. Its primary habitats are boreal forests and marshlands, and it is more commonly found in colder climates. Recent studies from Eastern Europe found that stable carbon and oxygen isotope ratios in α-cellulose from Sphagnum fuscum stems subsampled from hummocks and peat plateau profiles act as useful indicators of summer temperature and winter precipitation across decadal to millennial timescales. A study conducted in Alberta, Canada found that Sphagnum fuscum serves as an indicator of high sulphur and nitrogen deposition in growing substrates. Its presence in areas with high sulphur and nitrogen deposition coincides with decreased soil pH. Historically, Sphagnum moss has been used for medicinal purposes. Sphagnum fuscum has antimicrobial properties, so it was used as an effective wound dressing filler to prevent infection. It also retains large amounts of moisture, which was useful for keeping the skin around a wound moist to prevent tissue death.
