The Flora of Disko Island and Adjacent Coast ol' West Greenland. 131 



Abundaiitly flowering, but the fructification is not good every year. 

 Covered by snow during winter. 



A 227. Ledum groenlandicum. Oed. 



Oli luxiiriant not too dry heath, in inossy bogs and at the odges 

 of willow thickets. 



Mainland: Near Holsteinsborg, 67°, and in ihe fjords inland from thai place 

 rather common (several collectors). 



It has sometimes been reported farther to the north on the mainland and also 

 sometimes from the fjords of Disko. But although we have eagerly searched for it, 

 we naver succeded in fmding it here. In the Herb. Haun. is a specimen from Egedes- 

 minde 68°42' (Sør.) (see list III), but we doubt the correctness of the statement. 

 We must, until new records have been made, consider the polar circle as its nothern 

 limit in West Greenland. 



South of our area it becomes commoner, and it occurs down to the 

 southmost Greenland and reaches to at least 60°10' on the east coast. 

 Hence a southern type. 



Principally a lowland plant. Abundantly flowering and — in the 

 southmost habitats — also abundantly fructificating. 



Covered by thick layers of snow during winter. 



With the slight exception mentioned above no Lediun oecurs on 

 the whole coast of East Greenland. 



Outside Greenland no Ledum is known, neither from Iceland, 

 Jan Mayen, Færoes nor the British Islands. In northern Norway and 

 through the whole of Sweden occurs L.paliistre. This species is sporadic 

 in the lowland of Germany becoming commoner eastwards, rather con- 

 tinually distributed from Servia through Hungary, Austria, Galicia, Po- 

 land, eastern Baltic lands, Fennia to Lapland. Further it is common in 

 temperate and boreal Russia and through the whole of northern Asia 

 to Korea and northern Japan. In its whole area this species is a low- 

 land plant and a Continental species avoiding the arctic barrens north 

 of the limit of the forests. Perhaps it enters the American continent in 

 its western boreal part. What we saw^ from Arctic and Eastern Nortii 

 America belonged to L. decumbens. 



L. decumbens occupies the Arctic part of Asia, at least to Jenissei. 

 It has sometimes been reported from Arctic Russia and the Kola penin- 

 sula. What we saw^ from the northernmost localities of Europe was 

 depauperate forms of the preceding. On Nova Zemlia and Spitsbergen 

 no species of Ledum occurs. Further we consider the Ledum occurring in 

 Northern America north of the area of L. groenlandicum to be this species. 

 It ranges in the eastern part nearly up to the 70*'' parallel of latitude 



9* 



