Home/Species/ Flat-top Bogmoss

Sphagnum fallax

(Klinggr.) Klinggr.

Flat-top Bogmoss

G5Secure Found in 2 roadless areas NatureServe Explorer →

G5SecureGlobal Rank

Identity

Unique IDELEMENT_GLOBAL.2.127439

Element CodeNBMUS6Z230

Record TypeSPECIES

ClassificationSpecies

Classification StatusStandard

Name CategoryNonvascular Plant

Endemicoccurs (regularly, as a native taxon) in multiple nations

KingdomPlantae

PhylumBryophyta

ClassSphagnopsida

OrderSphagnales

FamilySphagnaceae

GenusSphagnum

Synonyms

Sphagnum fallax var. fallax

Other Common Names

Flat-topped Sphagnum Moss (EN) sphagnum (EN) Sphaigne trompeuse (FR)

Concept Reference

Anderson, L.E. 1990. A checklist of Sphagnum in North America north of Mexico. The Bryologist 93(4):500-501.

Taxonomic Comments

This is the record for the narrow concept of Sphagnum fallax, not including S. brevifolium and S. isoviitae, following FNA (vol. 27, 2007). This concept is equivalent to S. fallax var. fallax of Lönnell and Hassel (2018) and Brinda and Atwood (2026). In contrast, Buck and Goffinet (2024) include S. brevifolium and S. isoviitae in S. fallax, with no infrataxa distinguished, following Duffy et al. (2020).

Conservation Status

Rank MethodExpertise without calculation

Review Date2015-05-27

Change Date1991-05-01

Threat Impact Comments

Highly threatened by land-use conversion, habitat fragmentation, forest management practices, and sedimentation (Southern Appalachian Species Viability Project 2002).

Ecology & Habitat

Other Nations (2)

United StatesNNR

Province	Rank	Native
Indiana	SNR	Yes
Delaware	S1	Yes
Vermont	S5	Yes
Michigan	SNR	Yes
Missouri	S1	Yes
New Jersey	SNR	Yes
New York	SNR	Yes
Virginia	S3	Yes
Ohio	SNR	Yes
Maine	SNR	Yes
North Carolina	S2	Yes
Massachusetts	SNR	Yes
Pennsylvania	S4	Yes
West Virginia	SNR	Yes
Connecticut	SNR	Yes
New Hampshire	SNR	Yes
Minnesota	SNR	Yes
Illinois	SNR	Yes
Tennessee	SNR	Yes

CanadaN5

Province	Rank	Native
Saskatchewan	SU	Yes
Ontario	S4	Yes
Yukon Territory	SU	Yes
Island of Newfoundland	S3	Yes
Alberta	S3	Yes
Nova Scotia	S5	Yes
Prince Edward Island	S5	Yes
New Brunswick	S5	Yes
Quebec	S5	Yes
Northwest Territories	SU	Yes
Manitoba	SU	Yes
Labrador	S4	Yes

Plant Characteristics

Economic Value (Genus)No

Roadless Areas (2)

Montana (1)

Area	Forest	Acres
Lolo Creek	Lolo National Forest	14,335

Tennessee (1)

Area	Forest	Acres
Flint Mill Gap	Cherokee National Forest	9,494

References (7)

Anderson, L.E. 1990. A checklist of Sphagnum in North America north of Mexico. The Bryologist 93(4):500-501.
Brinda, J.C., and J.J. Atwood. 2026. A Synopsis of Sphagnum. The Bryophyte Nomenclator. Online. Available: https://www.bryonames.org/synonymy?search=Sphagnum (accessed 2026).
Buck, W.R. and B. Goffinet. 2024. A new checklist of the mosses of the continental United States and Canada. The Bryologist 127(4): 484-549.
Duffy, A., B. Aguero, H. Stenøien, K.l. Flatberg, M.S. Ignatov, K. Hassel & A.J. Shaw. 2020. Phylogenetic structure in the Sphagnum recurvum complex (Bryophyta: Sphagnaceae) relative to taxonomy and geography. American Journal of Botany 107: 1283-1295.
Flora of North America Editorial Committee (FNA). 2007b. Flora of North America north of Mexico. Vol. 27. Bryophytes: Mosses, Part 1. Oxford University Press, New York. xxi + 713 pp.
Lönnell, N, and K. Hassel. 2018. New combinations within the genus Sphagnum (Sphagnaceae, Bryophyta). Phytotaxa. 369(1): 57-58.
Southern Appalachian Species Viability Project. 2002. A partnership between the U.S. Forest Service-Region 8, Natural Heritage Programs in the Southeast, NatureServe, and independent scientists to develop and review data on 1300+ regionally and locally rare species in the Southern Appalachian and Alabama region. Database (Access 97) provided to the U.S. Forest Service by NatureServe, Durham, North Carolina.