The Flora of Greenland and its Origin. 7 



the north coast and that of the soulhern exlreniity — far 

 less than one would expect considering that some 23V3 

 degrees of latitude are involved. No fewer than 32, or 8,2 p. c,, 

 of the 390 species in the country have a range of distribu- 

 tion extending from the northern to the southern extremity ; 

 a feature which is probably rather unique. And these 32 

 species, moreover, themselves comprise nearly half (42 p. c.) 

 of the whole poor flora (77 species) of the north coast. 



Still, there is of course a much richer flora in southern 

 Greenland, with its high birch copses, than on the in- 

 hospitable north coast, fronting the Polar Sea which is 

 always covered with ice; we have here the most northerly 

 vegetation known. It is natural therefore to endeavour to 

 divide up the country, or rather, the coasts, into minor 

 areas, when studying the flora and its distribution through- 

 out the country. This will be done in the following, as 

 previously also by E. Warming, A. G. Nathorst, M. P. 

 Porsild and others. 



The 390 species and their distribution in Greenland, 

 together with various phytogeographical data, will be found' 

 in the General List at the close of this paper. This list 

 gives really all the data on which the present work is 

 based. 



II. Previous Investigations. 



The floristic-phytogeographical conditions of Greenland 

 have been dealt with at quite considerable length in previ- 

 ous papers by different authors. Warming, in his book on 

 the Vegetation of Greenland (1888), the first ecological 

 description of the vegetation of the country, also deals, in 

 one chapter, with thecomposition and origin of the flora, and 

 gives a summary of what was previously known, epsecially 



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