922 



I. Halophile formations.^ 



By far the greater part of the coast-line of the Islands consists 

 of Cliffs, which in many piaces descend vertically into the ocean, 

 and thus give little opportunity for the development of the typical 

 shore- vegetation. Within the bays and fjords, however, sloping 

 beaches occur (note Fig. 172) and there one finds the typical 

 strand-plants. 



Most of these beaches are formed of sand, and the vegetation 

 consists of sand-plants. In a few localities the salt-marsh with its 



Kig. 172. Head of Kvalbofjord, Sydero. The flat sand-strand can be secn curving round the head 

 of the fjord. (From photo. by K. Rimestad). 



characteristic piants may be found on a moist soil formed of finely 

 divided material with miich organic matter. 



Finally the coast-cliffs are occupied by a peculiar vegetation 

 which distinguishes them from the commoner type of cliffs. 



a. The sand-strand formation. 



The species of the sandy seashore are few in number, and gene- 

 rally occur scattered in an open formation with bare soil appearing 

 between the piants. 



The sand is coarse and dark, being composed mainly ofwater- 

 worn grains of basalt. In some piaces, and particularly near Hvi- 

 denæs on Stromo, it is considerably mixed with fragments of 

 the shells of Mollusca and Barnacles (Balanus) and with Corallina 



^ The reader is referred to Borgesen (1905) for the submarine plant-associa- 

 tions, including the small formation of Zosiera marina in Vaagfjord. 



