MOSSES 



323 



and used for fuel. Peat, especially fern peat, is often used by 

 florists for mixing in soil for growing certain plants. The peat 

 mosses are collected and used for packing plants and other 

 objects for shipment. 



490. Fruit of the peat mosses. The fruit of the peat mosses 

 is a capsule with a broad foot inserted in a naked stalk which is 

 an outgrowth of the leafy stem. The naked stalk of the peat 

 mosses, then, is not a part of the capsule. The capsule is not 

 so complicated a structure as that of the higher mosses (Bryales). 



Fig. 301. 

 Peat mass (Sphagnum) in fruit. 



491. Importance of mosses in nature. The peat mosses, 

 assisted by other plants which grow in similar situations, build 

 up ground in low marshy places. They assist in filling in small 

 or large ponds, beginning on the shore. This they are enabled 

 to do because of the formation of the peat; the plant parts in the 

 water, not being able to decay, build up ground quite rapidly. 

 The mosses of all kinds on the forest floor hold considerable 



