sphagnum

American  

[sfag-nuhm] / ˈsfæg nəm /

noun

1. any soft moss of the genus Sphagnum, occurring chiefly in bogs, used for potting and packing plants, for dressing wounds, etc.

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sphagnum British  

/ ˈsfæɡnəm /

noun

1. Also called: peat moss.   bog moss.  any moss of the genus Sphagnum, of temperate bogs, having leaves capable of holding much water: layers of these mosses decay to form peat

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sphagnum Scientific  

/ sfăg′nəm /

1. See peat moss

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Other Word Forms

• sphagnous
  adjective

Etymology

Origin of sphagnum

1745–55; < New Latin, alteration of Greek sphágnos a moss

Example Sentences

Sphagnum moss had not disappeared from Marsden Moor, between the industrial heartlands of Huddersfield and Manchester, but it had been badly affected by centuries of industrial pollution.

From BBC • Feb. 8, 2026

Sphagnum moss or peat moss will increase acidity.

From Seattle Times • Feb. 14, 2024

While the study and policy change have both focused on the Kosciuszko National Park, there are Sphagnum mosspeatlands -- and feral herbivores -- across the Australian Alps and Tasmania.

From Science Daily • Nov. 8, 2023

Sphagnum moss releases an acidic sugary molecule called sphagnan, which takes up the nutrients that would otherwise nourish microbes that cause decay.

From National Geographic • Aug. 7, 2023

In Sphagnum, Andreaea and some genera of the Bryales the protonema or some of its branches have the form of flat plates or masses of cells.

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 4, Part 3 "Brescia" to "Bulgaria" by Various