BOTANICAL INFORMATION. 181 
Alsinee, and Composite. Among the genera are the following :— 
Dianthus, Sieversia, Dryas, Anemone, Artemisia, Saxifraga, Alsine, 
Lychnis, Myosotis, Cassiope, Oxyria, Primula, Androsace, Dodecatheon, 
Phaca, Oxytropis, Tofieldia, Anthericum, &c. &e. 
Plants reach their extreme north in the centre, not on the coast of a 
continent. From the highest northern point the line describing their 
limit descends towards south-east and south-west. In the Old World, 
trees grow as high as latitude 70° north, while towards the eastern 
shores of the same country none exist as far south as latitude 64° 
north (personal knowledge and observation). In the New World the 
same rule holds good. In the centre of the American continent the 
limit of the woods is in the Arctic circle itself; on the western coast 
it is thirty-three miles below it, in latitude 66° north. The most 
northern trees of this coast are 4dies alba and Salix speciosa. About 
Norton’s Sound, groves of Conifere are frequent, but gradually they - 
become less abundant, till in latitude 66° north, on the banks of the 
Buckland, 4dies alba entirely disappears. Salir speciosa, though still 
ascending above that degree, is no longer a tree, and is only able to 
reach, in sheltered positions, the height of six feet. Betula incana 
extends as far as Kotzebue Sound, where, in valleys and on the slopes 
of hills, in company with Salix Lapponum and Salix n. 1789, it 
forms low brushwood. With the commencement of the Aretie circle, 
Salix speciosa, S. Lapponum, and Betula incana cease to exist: 
Salix n. 1789 extends its range further, but is only for a short distance 3 
able to maintain the ground. At Cape Lisburne, in latitude 68° 52’ 6” 
north, it is, in the most favourable localities, never higher than two 
feet, while its cracked growth, and the numerous abortive leaf-buds, 
plainly indicate that it is struggling for existence. All attempts of ds 
spreading its dominion towards the north prove unsuccessful, Two E 
degrees higher, and it is seen no more. At Wainwright’s Inlet a 
boundless plain presents itself. No tree interrupts the uniform line of 
the horizon ; no shrub dares to show itself above the level of the turfy 
vegetation; all ligneous remains are closely prostrated to the ground, 
and only maintain life by seeking shelter among the Mosses and 
Lichens. The polar wind, which never affects the graceful palm, 
and is incapable of injuring the hardy oak, yet at last succeeds in 
laying low the offspring of Flora in these regions. Here they are 
doomed to slumber two-thirds of the year, without sun, without 
