REINDEER MOSS 



REINDEER MOSS 



The reindeer is the wealth of the inhabitants of 

 some cold countries. It patiently carries the people 

 from place to place. Its milk and flesh serve for food, 

 its skin for bedclothes, and its tendons for bow strings. 

 These useful animals live entirely upon a small lichen 

 which is found in large 

 quantities on the great 

 plains that border the Arc- 

 tic Ocean. 



This lichen is called 

 reindeer moss. In the tem- 

 perate regions it grows in 

 small tufts, and is some- 

 times found on the sides 

 and tops of mountains, cov- 

 ering places where the snow lies the longest. Its dense 

 tufts are white as new-fallen snow. As you may see, it 

 resembles some forms of coral. It is always erect and 

 much branched. There are tiny holes where the 

 smaller branches join the larger ones. The parts of the 

 plants which grow in large clumps usually mix together 

 and form one mass. This lichen is two inches or more 

 in height. The reindeer find it by scraping with their 

 feet, even when the snow is deep. 



In the forests of Lapland the ground is often car- 



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Reindeer Moss. 



