Sphagnum erect, leafy, branched gametophyte with chlorophyllose cells and hyaline cells. This stage dominates the environment where "Sphagnum" grows, obliterating and burying the protonema and eventually building up into layers of dead moss called peat. Carpets of living "Sphagnum" may be attacked by various fungi, and one fungus that is also a mushroom, "Sphagnurus paluster", produces conspicuous dead patches. When this fungus and other agarics attack the protonema, "Sphagnum" is induced to produce nonphotosynthetic gemmae that can survive the fungal attack and months later germinate to produce new protonema and leafy gametophytes. It is unknown whether the leafy stage can produce
Moss teeth called peristome. This may be absent in some mosses. Most mosses rely on the wind to disperse the spores. In the genus "Sphagnum" the spores are projected about off the ground by compressed air contained in the capsules; the spores are accelerated to about 36,000 times the earth's gravitational acceleration "g". It has recently been found that microarthropods, such as springtails and mites, can effect moss fertilization and that this process is mediated by moss-emitted scents. Male and female fire moss, for example emit different and complex volatile organic scents. Female plants emit more compounds than male plants. Springtails