1895.] NATURAL SCIENCES OF PHILADELPHIA. 543 



CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE FLORA OF GREENLAND. 

 BY THKO. HOLM. 



There is hardly auy part of the arctic region that has been more 

 thoroughly explored by botanists than the narrow strip of land 

 which constitutes the west coast of Greenland, bordering on the 

 inland ice. 



Numerous expeditious, especially from Denmark and Sweden, 

 have visited the country, and the literature upon this subject 

 gives us a relatively complete knowledge of the distribution of a 

 large number of plants in addition to notes on the general character 

 of the vegetation. It is true, however, that the vegetation of several 

 places, especially on the northern part of the coast, is still almost 

 unknown to us. Explorations of late date have contributed to ex- 

 tend our knowledge of these more or less inaccessible localities, and 

 the material collected is, therefore, of great importance. Interest 

 attaches to two American expeditions to the northwestern coast, 

 Cape York, Wosteuholm Island, McCormick Bay, etc., localities 

 which were either unknown or had so far only been slightly touched 

 upon by botanists. 



Mr. Wm. E. Meehan has reported 1 on the results of these ex- 

 peditions, extending considerably the range of several plants. He 

 has enumerated the various plants collected, and several rare species 

 are recorded. A set of the duplicates was presented to the National 

 Herbarium at Washington, and they have been studied by me with 

 great interest, because of my own exploration of the coast of Green- 

 land. 



Some of Mr. Meehan' s identifications are incorrect, and I there- 

 fore present the following notes in the hope of contributing to the 

 accuracy of the results. The corrections are merely a supplement 

 to Mr. Meehan's paper. 



It is stated that Dryas octopetala, next to Papaver, is perhaps the 



1 A Contribution to the Flora of Greenland. Proceed. Acad, of Nat. Sci. 

 Philadelphia, April, 1892, 



