Sphagnum medium

A dioicous bog-moss and a major peat-forming species in boreal-montane habitats. It is a species of well-lit bog habitats where there is deep, uneroded peat and as such is a good indicator of quality peatland. In well-illuninated sites it is usually has a distinctive, deep wine-red colour which serves to distinguish it from Sphagnum palustre and Sphagnum papillosum, but green forms of it can be confusing. It is largely a northern species in Britain with Welsh populations mostly concentrated in the uplands of mid and north Wales. It is very uncommon in south Wales and was unknown in Glamorgan until Joey Pickard discovered a small colony in a bog in Ystradffernol Forest in 20   and later in West Glamorgan in an area of peat bog near Panwaun Pen-y-coetgae, Neath Port Tabot, in 20  . Sporophyte capsules re rare.