120 H. G. SIMMONS. [sec. arct. exp. fram 



Cerastium alpinum, L. 



C. alpitmm, Linnaeus, Sp. plant, 1753; Muhbeck, Nordeurop. Cerast.; Lange, Consp. 

 Fl. Groenl.; Kruuse, List E. Grecnl. ; Natiiorst, N. W. Gronl.; Hart, Bol. Br. 

 Pol. Exp.; Greely, Rep.; Simmons, Prel. Rep. et Bot. Arb. ; Hooker, Fl. Bor* 

 Amer. ; Britton & Brown, 111. Fl. ; Kjellman, in Vegaexp.; Ledebour, FI. 

 Ross.; Feilden, Fl. pi. Nov. Zeml. ; Andersson Sc Hesselman, Spetsb. karlv.; 

 Kruuse, Jan May.; C ardicnm, Lange, 1. c, exp.; C. alp. var. Fischerianum, 

 DuRAND, Enum. pi. Smitli S., non Seringe. 



Fig. Sv. Bot., T. 745; Fl. Dan., T. 6, 779. 



A very common and very variable species, appearing in different 

 forms according to the iiabitat and sometimes approaching C. Edmond- 

 stonii, (Wats.) Murb. & Ostenf. and the variety caespitosum, (Malmgr.) 

 Anderss. t^' Hesselm. of the latter. The differences between the extreme 

 formS; which, very unlike each other, are however in a greater material, 

 obliterated by a great number of intermediate variations. I tried at 

 first to distinguish C. Edmondstonii also among my material, but at 

 last I arrived at the conclusion, that this species is not represented in 

 EUesmereland. C. Edmondstonii, which is only spread in Iceland, 

 Faeroes, Shetland, Scotland, Northern Scandinavia and Spitsbergen, is, 

 I believe, a young species differentiated from C. alpinum, and restricted 

 to the area mentioned. Indeed there are specimens from Greenland that 

 are very like it, but they must be referred to C. alpinum, as I have 

 become convinced in studying the Copenhagen collections. If C. Ed- 

 iuondstonii had reached to Greenland, it must of course grow princip- 

 ally in the East coast, but there is only a single locality in the extreme 

 south of that coast mentioned by Lange, 1. c, p. 32, for his C. ardicum. 

 All other localities are on the western side, and principally to the north- 

 ward (several of them are entered on the always very doubtful authority 

 of Kane and Hart). Some new localities have been added later, still 

 principally in the north. There are, however, also a few from the south- 

 western coast and two more from the south-eastern. In the northern 

 parts of the east coast, where the eastern species generally appear, 

 there are no statements about C. Edmondstonii, as far as the main 

 species is concerned. There are indeed, some records of the var. 

 caespitosum, Malmgr., which is transferred by Andersson 6c Hesselman, 

 1. c, to C. Edmondstonii. But these can hardly be referred to the 

 latter species as will be shown later. 



Now already this mode of distribution made me very doubtful, 

 whether C. Edmondstonii should really be reckoned as a Greenland 



