Sphagnum majus subsp. norvegicum and Sphagnum subtile, New to the Iberian Peninsula

Sphagnum majus subsp. norvegicum and S. subtile are reported for the first time in the Iberian Peninsula from a mountain mire in northwestern Spain. Chemical parameters, algae, bryophytes, and vascular plants were determined. Chemical data and vegetation served to classify the mire as a poor fen although some of its plant species can be regarded as weakly minerotrophic. The Sphagnum flora of the Iberian Peninsula is quite imperfectly known, and only general treatments on European taxa are available. Only Casares' (1925) work deals with the genus in the Iberian Peninsula, but today it is out of date. There are no modern treatments of the Iberian species of the genus except the distribution of the taxa of sect. Sphagnum (Casas et al. 1992). Since no other section has been thoroughly studied, the verified Iberian members of the genus and their distribution remain unknown. The treatment of the group by Daniels and Eddy (1985) is too general concerning the geographical distribution in the Iberian Peninsula. Casas' (1991) checklist of the Spanish mosses is the only modern reference work for the area regarding sphagna. In the past few years, collections of Sphagnum were made in Zamora Province, northwestern Spain. Among these collections, one sample of Sphagnum majus (Russ.) C. Jens. subsp. norvegicum Flatberg and one of S. subtile (Russ.) Warnst. were collected from a small mire in the Segundera Mountains, the first collection of these mosses for the Iberian Pen