Bryophyte pesticides. The liverwort, "Plagiochila," produces a chemical that is poisonous to mice. Other bryophytes produce chemicals that are antifeedants which protect them from being eaten by slugs. When "Phythium sphagnum" is sprinkled on the soil of germinating seeds, it inhibits growth of "damping off fungus" which would otherwise kill young seedlings. Commercial Peat is a fuel that is produced from dried bryophytes, typically "sphagnum." Bryophytes antibiotic properties and ability to retain water make them a useful packaging material for vegetables, flowers, and bulbs. Also, because of the antibiotic properties, "sphagnum" was used as a surgical dressing in World War I.
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