RE: Sphagnum moss fungus

Steve Marak (SAMARAK@UAFSYSB.UARK.EDU)
Thu, 22 Sep 94 21:46:03 CDT

Serendipitously, a blurb arrived a few days ago from another plant org.
I belong to ... according to it (the blurb):

"Cutaneous sporotrichosis" is a chronic infection identified by skin
lesions, and is caused by the fungus Sporotrichum schenckii.

The author of the blurb was listed as the president of the Canadian
Sphagnum Peat Moss Association, and the point he was most interested in
making was that the fungus is known from the living moss but not from
the peat. (Which I'll admit is useful information even if the article
clearly had non-altruistic motivation.)

I haven't personally seen the MSDS on this but every source I've seen
just says wear gloves when handling, avoid skin contact, especially with
any skin irritations or lesions.

Steve
SAMARAK@UAFSYSB.BITNET or SAMARAK@UAFSYSB.UARK.EDU