Wooly moss, Racomitrium lanuginosum, or gray moss as the plant is known locally, is a predominant part of the wild vegetation that thrives on the young lava fields in southern parts of Iceland. This robust plant is usually the first pioneer to colonize newly run lava, patiently covering the sharp-edged black and lifeless stone with soft gray-green carpets through the firstdecades while slowly, but surely, binding a layer of soil in preparation for more demanding settlers such as grasses and ferns.