any soft moss of the genus Sphagnum, occurring chiefly in bogs, used for potting and packing plants, for dressing wounds, etc.
Origin
1745-55; < New Latin, alteration of Greeksphágnos a moss
Examples from the web for sphagnum
sphagnum mosses often cover the top layer of bogs, and cranberries can be found growing in bogs.
sphagnum planted directly on this substrate would dry completely and perish during the driest part of the year.
sphagnum creates bogs by holding water and creating acidic conditions.
The nymphs are aquatic, living in soupy sphagnum pools and among aquatic vegetation.
Toward the interior are leather-leaf, small cranberry, and few-seeded sedge on a dense sphagnum mat.
Bog turtles frequently use sphagnum for nesting and basking areas.
Pitcher plants grow with sphagnum mosses in tea colored seeps of the cedar swamp.
British Dictionary definitions for sphagnum
sphagnum
/ˈsfæɡnəm/
noun
1.
any moss of the genus Sphagnum, of temperate bogs, having leaves capable of holding much water: layers of these mosses decay to form peat Also called peat moss, bog moss
Derived Forms
sphagnous, adjective
Word Origin
C18: from New Latin, from Greek sphagnos a variety of moss
Word Origin and History for sphagnum
n.
genus of mosses, 1741, Modern Latin, from Latin sphagnos, a kind of lichen, from Greek sphagnos "a spiny shrub, a kind of moss," of unknown origin.