Carrington Moss of years this raises the level of peat and forms a gently sloping dome (hence, raised). Such areas support a wide range of flora and fauna; "Sphagnum balticum", a medium-sized bog moss, was recorded on Carrington Moss in the 1880s, although locally it is now presumed to be extinct. Lancashire- or bog asphodel ("Narthecium ossifragum"), white beak-sedge ("Rhynchospora alba"), cranberries, bog-rosemary ("Andromeda polifolia"), and the cotton sedge have also been recorded. In 1923 species of trees recorded by E. Price Evans for the "Journal of Ecology" included English oak ("Quercus robur"), and common ash ("Fraxinus excelsior"). Undergrowth included common hazel
Sphagnum short-lived, and consists almost entirely of a shiny green, spherical spore capsule that becomes black with spores. Sporophytes are raised on stalks to facilitate spore dispersal, but unlike other mosses, "Sphagnum" stalks are produced by the maternal gametophyte. Tetrahedral haploid spores are produced in the sporophyte by meiosis, which are then dispersed when the capsule explosively discharges its cap, called an operculum, and shoots the spores some distance. The spores germinate to produce minute protonemae, which start as filaments, can become thalloid, and can produce a few rhizoids. Soon afterwards, the protonema develops buds and these differentiate into its characteristic,