106 Holm The Earliest Record of Arctic Plants. 



easily be seen how the mistake occurred. "Auriculae muris qffinis 

 herba Spitzbergensis " is the name given by Ray to this plant, but 

 his diagnosis, "Supremo cauliculo Flos innascitur albus," is the 

 only feature which is characteristic of this Cerastium. Martens 

 has, indeed, pointed out the characteristics in a much clearer 

 way. 



" Kraut als Singrun '' (Table G, Fig. 6) represents Salixpolaris 

 Wahlbg. If it were not that the illustration is so good, it would 

 hardly have been possible to identify this plant. " Singriin " is 

 now the name for Vinca. The stem is described as knotted and 

 woody and the leaves as occurring in pairs. The flowers were 

 not seen, and Martens is therefore not certain that the plant 

 belongs to Pyrola minima. It is called " Vinca permncse, similix 

 herba Spitzbergensis " by Ray. The leaves of this willow are very 

 small and coriaceous, brilliant green. They occur in about two 

 alternately on each branch, and to a certain extent resemble 

 those of some species of Pyrola. 



" Erdbeer-Kraut " (Table H, Fig. 6) is Potentilla fragiformis 

 Willd. The description is very good, and the statement that the 

 leaves only had three leaflets shows that we have this species 

 before us and not P. maculata Pourr., the leaves of which are 

 quinate. The same statement is also given by Ray, u foliis tri- 

 partitis divisis ... ," who has called, it "Fragarise affinis 

 Spitzbergensis.'''' 



Two Algae are enumerated under the name " Klippen-Kraii- 

 tern," of which the figure /; in Plate F represents Fucus vesicu- 

 losus. The vesicles are described very accurately, and Martens 

 states that he did not observe whether these contained any seeds. 

 His sailors informed him, however, that the small sea snails 

 (Pteropoda), upon which the whales feed, originate from the 

 seeds of this Alga. Martens does not seem to have shared this 

 opinion, however, and says that he is inclined to believe that 

 these snails have, like others, originated from eggs! 



The large Alga (Fig. c in Plate I) is undoubtedly a species of 

 Laminaria. 



Several other plants were observed, but were not collected. 

 Only two of these have been described, but these have not been 

 figured. One of these, u der weisse Ma/m" is evidently Dry us 

 octopetala L. " Mahn " is undoubtedly a misprint for " Mohn," 

 the common poppy (Papaver dubium or Rhceas). Since the only 

 poppy that grows on Spitzbergen, P. nudicaule L., has yellow 



