For the plants in your first picture, you might look up pics of Lycopodium and see if they are what you discovered. Last year at this time during our own far to long and strenuous wander through the woods we found Lycopodium obscurum growing on the leafy forest floor. We are down here in Suffolk County, New York.

Thanks Ceris! Much appreciated ID on the Lycopodium. I am going to assume that the plants I found that seemingly match very closely to your ID, are just not as tall or "strong" due to growing with little to no light due to the huge stands of timber they are growing in.

"as well as the use of its spores for flash powder"..hmmm could have used some of that yesterday to blast my way out of this ever so lovely, yet never ending hike over hill and dale, granite rock outcroppings, trip roots, and glacial boulder faces!

The small heart shaped leaves look like violets to me.

Your first picture looks like it shows 2 different species of lycopods. They never grow very big and usually grow in shaded areas. The spore stalks are helpful for identifying some of the club mosses to species.

Hmmm, maybe I'll try for a flash powder spore fireball next time I'm out when the forest isn't dry. Fireball, yes! Forest fire, NO!!

Thanks Naturegirl :) I assumed they were "familial", at first thinking the spikier of the two was younger growth, but in actuality the spikier plant was a good 2"-3" taller, and most except for the ones I took pictures of LOL, had a 2" yellow/gold spike on the top, rather like new growth on full height/size pines, which seemed odd in that in a few weeks these plants will be under snow. Ah well, I'm not likely to be swashbuckling my way back there til spring, but I was rather enamoured with this delicate appearing swath of plants in a rather harsh terrain.

Thanks for your help everyone :) Having read a few pages online regarding the homeopathic uses of these plants, apparently I should be cured of all that ails me, except the charliehorse thighs I encountered the following day!