Shkurko, A.V., O.I. Kuznetsova, E.D. Lapshina, E.A. Ignatova, R.-L. Zhu & M.S. Ignatov. 2026. Sphagnum kushiroense, S. microporum and S. subobesum in Russia

Arctoa (2026) 35: 1–20

doi: 10.15298/arctoa.35.01

Sphagnum microporum, S. kushiroense and S. subobesum are reported for the first time from Russia. Molecular phylogenetic analysis based on plastid trnG marker found them in the clade with the GenBank accessions of S. microporum and S. kushiroense from China and Japan. Nuclear RAPD-A sequences also support this position for Russian samples of S. microporum and S. kushiroense. These two species do not differ from each other in the studied molecular markers, but can be distinguished by few morphological traits. Sphagnum kushiroense appeared to be locally common in mires in the continental southern Russian Far East, extending westwards to the Czara River basin in Transbaikalia. Sphagnum microporum is currently known in Russia from three localities in Khabarovsk Territory. Russian specimens referred to Sphagnum subobesum are supposed to be of hybrid origin, where maternal species is likely S. microporum or S. kushiroense and paternal one is another species of Sphagnum subgen. Subsecunda. Sphagnum subobesum was found in Russia in few localities, including eastern Yakutia, Kamchatka, Khabarovsk Territory, and Kunashir Island, where it grew mainly in heavily flooded sites of mires at lake shores. Presence of Sphagnum denticulatum in the Russian Far East region is not confirmed, as the specimen from the Amurskaya Province, where it was collected deeply submerged in lake, contains the mixture of S. subobesum and S. kushiroense.