Flat-branched Tree Clubmoss
Flat-branched tree clubmoss, Dendrolycopodium obscurum, is a small plant.
Princess Pine is another common name.
Clubmosses are lychophytes. A Lychophyte is a 'cousin' to 'true ferns', those ferns with all the frilly leaves.
D. obscurum is evergreen. They are seen poking up through a light snow fall, like little Christmas trees.
Lychophytes have ancestors going back 390 million years. Those ancestors helped make today's coal.
D. obscurum can be found through out Northeast, Central North, and Southeast USA.
map of D. obscurum on iNaturalist.org
At the Fairfield Audubon, Fairfield, CT, is a good example of D. obscurum. A large area can be covered with D. obscurum. The rhizomes spread the plant year after year.
The Peterson Field Guide Ferns of Northeastern and Central North America, Cobb et al. (out of print), has a statement 'Plants with tiny, pointed leaves' regarding the club mosses and other related lychophytes. The close up picture above shows these tiny pointed leaves which are sessile (no leaf stalk) to the main stem.
Look down at your feet and see if you can find flat-branched tree clubmoss.