These are a type of lichen that is common on rocky soils of the Canadian Shield. Note the brown pine needle for scale. Here is another that I always refer to as reindeer moss; it absorbs water like a sponge and releases it slowly, providing a handy substrate for seedling grasses, trees, forbs. Lichens are quite literally the first "plants" to colonize bare rock. When I have canoed this area in the past, I would collect dried reindeer moss and dried paper birch bark. Between the two I knew that I could start a campfire anytime anywhere.
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