What plant is this?

By no means am I a botanist, and I have no idea what this plant is but I see it all over and am curious.



Hope that's not too big; I'm wondering about the close ground cover in the lower right mixed with the clover - sometimes it's a bit taller and stands maybe four-six inches tall, but it always looks more or less like that.

The plant you're asking about is a moss, probably in the genus Polytrichum. Might be P. commune. Interesting plants with a complicated lifecycle: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moss#Life_cycle

Those "clovers" aren't clover, by the way. They're wood-sorrel.

Thanks for asking the question and for the helpful photo ... and thanks for the answer. It has been very useful to me to learn about various plants found in the mountains as I've incorporated some in my yard in varous beds ... part of a quest to minimize lawn and maximize association with places we love. As for moss, the more the better ... I'm happy to displace lawn with it in places it'll thrive ... it's soft and does not need mowing and, watered along with some of the flower beds, is very attractive.

Thanks nartreb (and you as well Stan); before reading about mosses today on wiki I hadn't realized they could look like that - I thought they were always much shorter. I found this (pdf) from the USFS that describes most of the species found in New Hampshire; from that I know I've also seen Polytrichastrum alpinum out there. It's surprising to me how there are still a ton of moss species / subspecies that aren't well documented. It's interesting how complex their life cycle can be.

Oh and good spot on the wood sorrel - it's just a pic I found and I took a quick glance, thought it was just clover. It's cool how they taste like lemons.