I'm on vacation, so only a short written accompaniment today. – Daniel
Spread-leaved peat moss or rough peat moss is native to wet, acidic areas of Asia, Europe, North America, northern Africa, New Zealand and Greenland according to the Moss Flora of China entry on Sphagnum squarrosum.
Although it is very easy to recognize the distinctive peat moss from other mosses, identification of individual Sphagnum species often requires the use of a microscope. Complicating matters is that a sample of peat mosses may contain more than one species growing within the same clump (a personal observation).
My mother told me, that during WW1 they harvested Sphagnum moss, to be used for wound dressing, can anyone confirm this?
Happy Birthday Daniel!
See www.cbmh.ca/archive/00000176/01/cbmhbchm_v6n1riegler.pdf
for information about this. Or google for 'sphagnum wound dressing war' to find other links.
I must say, the distribution seems very odd indeed. How on earth did New Zealand get it, when it seems otherwise to be very northern hemisphere?
Hmmm, my class recently did a science experiment with Sphagnum moss. We tested to see how much water it would absorb in ten mintues. I can't quite remember, but I think it gained around 80 grams after being in the water.
yes, my grandmom told me the same. Spagnum was actually used as a wound dressing dare to it's desinfiction qualityes.