Distribution of Sphagnum quinquefarium in the Carpathian Basin on the basis of literature and herbarium data

Abstract

: We have found Sphagnum colonies on 10 October 2010 near Parádfürdő village, at the entrance of Ilona valley in northeast Hungary. The species was determined as Sphagnum quinquefarium (Lindb. ex Braithw.) Warnst. (five-ranked bog-moss), a protected species (on the basis of the 66/2015. (X. 26.) FM regulations) which was not until now described in the area of the Mátra Mountains. This species became known only from a few localities in Hungary, but was more frequent on the edge of the Carpathian Basin and in part of the outside border of our country. We collected the relevant data for the S. quinquefarium from the largest Herbarium database in Hungary and the countries of the Carpathian Basin and used the available botanical literature database. The peat moss species studied is very common in the High Tatras of Slovakia and throughout the Carpathian Mountains of Romania. This present paper summarises the recent distributional knowledge about S. quinquefarium distribution in the Carpathian Basin, outside of Hungary, on the basis of herbarium and literature data.