THE ALGÆ -VEGETATION OF THE FÆROESE COASTS 



WITH REMARKS ON THE PHYTO-GEOGRAPHY 



BY 



F. BØRGESEN. 



PREFACE. 



This paper contains the final report on my six journeys to the 

 Færoes in the period 1895 — 1902. During my first three visits 

 (1895, 1896 and 1898) I travelled about, partlyby boat, partly by the 

 local steamer »Smiril«, but the last three times I visited the Islands, 

 (1899, 1900 and 1902), I stayed on board the vessels stationed at the 

 Færoes for the protection of the fisheries and for surveying pur- 

 poses, the first two years on the gunboat »Guldborgsund«, in 1902 

 on the torpedoboat »Beskytteren«. 



In this way I have been able to obtain a far more thorough 

 knowledge of the algæ-vegetation than would otherwise have been 

 possible. I have for instance visited all the Islands, except Fuglø, 

 and have been on a great many islets and cliffs, and on many remote 

 coasts, where access might otherwise have been difficult. Further, 

 the vessels of the Navy have not only helped me to make wide 

 excursions, but their assistance has also been of advantage to my 

 work as I then had the opportunity of working with larger appa- 

 ratus than I could have used from a small boat. Thus in 1899 

 I had the use of a small trawl which helped me to obtain a rich 

 material, and in 1902 a very large iron scraper was used, also with 

 good results. 



INTRODUCTION. 



As is w^ell known, J. G. Agardh was the first to try to give 

 a description of the different regions of the algal vegetation on the 

 Scandinavian coasts in his w-ell- known work, »Novitiæ Floræ 

 Sveciæ« (2)^ In this work he distinguishes between three regions : 

 1. Regniim Algarum Zoospermariim. 2. Regniim Alganim OUvacearum 

 and 3. Regniim Algarum Floridearum, which are further divided into 

 subregions. 



^ This and the followlng figures refer to the Index to literature. 



Botany of the Færoes. 44 



