ˈsfagnəm, -faig- noun
Etymology: New Latin, from Latin sphagnos, a moss, from Gk.
1. capitalized : a large genus (coextensive with the order Sphagnales) of atypical mosses that have a protonema which is not filamentous but resembles the prothallium of a fern, a pseudopodium which is derived from the gametophyte rather than the sporophyte as in other mosses, and leaves which contain abundant colorless aqueous tissue interspersed with chlorophyll-bearing cells and that grow only in very wet acid areas where their accumulated remains become compacted with other plant debris to form peat
2. or sphagnum moss -s
a. : any plant of the genus Sphagnum
b. : a mass of sphagnum plants
damping off can often be prevented by covering the seeds with a thin layer of pulverized sphagnum
dehydrated sphagnum was used for surgical dressings during World War I