CHAPTER IX 



MOSSES 



100. General character. Mosses are very abundant and 

 ^amiliar plants that occur almost everywhere. They 

 grow in all conditions of moisture, from submerged to very 

 dry. Many of them can endure drying out wonderfully; 

 and hence they can grow in very much exposed situations, 

 as do many lichens. In fact, lichens and mosses, being 

 able to grow in the most exposed situations, are the first 

 plants to appear upon bare rocks and ground, and are the 

 last plants one sees in climbing high mountains or in going 

 into very high latitudes. 



Mosses have great power of vegetative multiplication, 

 new leafy branches putting out from old ones indefinitely, 

 thus forming thick carpets and masses. Bog mosses often 

 completely fill up bogs or small ponds and lakes with a dense 

 growth, which dies below and continues to grow above so 

 long as the conditions are favorable. These quaking bogs 

 or "mosses/' as they are sometimes called, furnish very 

 treacherous footing unless rendered firmer by other plants. 



101. Peat. In moss-filled bogs the water and the dense 

 vegetation shut off the lower strata of moss from complete 

 decay; and they become modified into a coaly substance 

 called peat, which may accumulate to considerable thickness 

 by the continued upward growth of the mass of moss. 

 Other marsh plants are associated with mosses in the 

 formation of peat, and often the preservation of these 

 plants is remarkable. In fact, the water of peat-bogs is 



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