Sphagnum of the pacific - A checklist

Abstract

Six species of Sphagnum are recorded for the Pacific and the origin of another, Sphagnum seemannii var. weberi supposed to come from Samoa, is questioned. Five species are rejected from the area due to recent taxonomic work. Sphagnum is only recorded from Fiji, Hawaii and New Caledonia, in addition to the questionable report from Samoa. The occurrences of Sphagnum are restricted to larger, older islands, with enough precipitation for a cloud forest type of vegetation and to those islands with high altitude crater lakes.© 2011 Royal Botanic Gardens and Domain Trust. © 2011 Royal Botanic Gardens and Domain Trust.