Kids Research Express

Peat Moss, also called sphagnum moss and bog moss, common name for about 300 species of moss plants that grow in swamps and bogs throughout the world. Peat moss may grow to 30 cm (12 in) or more in height. The plants have many branches covered with small, light green leaves. The leaves and stems have special cells that absorb and hold much water. Peat moss is one of the most common plants from which peat, a fuel, is produced. When the plants die, the dead organic matter is preserved more or less intact because the moss is acidic, so bacterial and fungal decay occurs slowly. The dead peat moss and other plants are compressed by the weight of the living plants growing above them. This compressed matter eventually forms the peat. The peat can be cut into blocks and removed for use as fuel. Peat moss is also useful in gardening. It combats excessive alkalinity in the soil and produces the acid environment that certain plants need to grow, including such ornamental shrubs as rhododendro...

A small bryophyte plants belonging to the phylum Anthocerophyta; any of several submerged plants of the genus Ceratophyllum, forming branched masses in quiet water and having finely dissected, whorled leaves and minute unisexual flowers.  Unlike liverworts but like mosses, hornwort sporophytes have stomata. The hornwort gametophyte consists of a low thallus, out of which numerous slender, upright sporophytes tipped with sporangia grow. The sporophyte has a meristem that elongates the sporophyte with new growth, a feature that distinguishes the plant from the other bryophytes. The name of the hornworts was suggested by the hornlike appearance of the sporophytes.

Calabash Tree (Crescentia cujete) of the trumpet-creeper family (Bignoniaceae), 6 to 12 metres (20 to 40 feet) tall, that grows in Central and South America, the West Indies, and extreme southern Florida. It is often grown as an ornamental. It produces large spherical fruits, up to 50 cm (20 inches) in diameter, the hard shells of which are useful as bowls, cups, and other water containers when hollowed out. The fruit's shell encloses a whitish pulp and thin, dark brown seeds. The tree bears funnel-shaped, light green and purple-streaked flowers and evergreen leaves. Fruits of the unrelated bottle gourd (Lagenaria siceraria) are also known as calabashes. In some countries the rind and juice are used for medicinal purposes.