Moss in smoking malt in the production of Scotch whisky. "Sphagnum" moss, generally the species "S. cristatum" and "S. subnitens", is harvested while still growing and is dried out to be used in nurseries and horticulture as a plant growing medium. The practice of harvesting "peat moss" should not be confused with the harvesting of "moss peat". "Peat moss" can be harvested on a sustainable basis and managed so that regrowth is allowed, whereas the harvesting of "moss peat" is generally considered to cause significant environmental damage as the peat is stripped with little or no chance of recovery. Some "Sphagnum"
Portlethen Moss saturated organic layers could actually rupture, spilling large volumes of mud and organic debris to surrounding fields, thus enabling a bed for further spatial expansion of the entire bog. Ultimately the colour of the moss waters became blood red in colour, from the successive organic decay and stagnation. Only in times associated with cattle grazing and significant human presence (probably the late Iron Age), would this process reverse and the bog reduce in size. A wide variety of sphagnum, sedges, rushes and other characteristic bog species inhabit Portlethen Moss. Sometimes insectivorous plants reside in mosses, since the soils are generally