080 



a gale. Moreover, it must be borne in mind that some have pro- 

 bably been transported to the islands either by ocean currents or 

 other agencies. 



One of these agencies I also hold to be very important. Osten- 

 feld mentions it, but very briefly (p. 117), as follows: — »Further . . . 

 man has doubtless introduced and keeps on introducing new spe- 

 cies«. By the agency of man a quantity of piants have doubtless 

 been introduced. Upwards of a thousand years have elapsed since 

 the Færoes were discovered, and they were immediately colonized. 

 From the Sagas we know that when Iceland was discovered and 

 colonized (»Landnamstiden«) the migrating Norsemen took domestic 

 animals with them (horses, cows, goats, sheep, pigs, etc); this 

 must also have happened in the case of the Færoes, and later on, 

 in the long succession of ages, domestic animals have undoubtedly 

 been brought over to the islands several times, and with them — 

 in their fodder, and adhering to their hairs — seeds of piants. 

 The Færoes have kept up a brisk communication by means of 

 ships with Norway, Scotland, Iceland, Denmark, etc, — and 

 even the Turks came over to the islands for plunder — , conse- 

 quently, there must have been numerous opportunities for the im- 

 portation of seeds of piants. Let us bear in mind, that, in the 

 present day, numerous species of weeds immigrate to all the 

 various seaport towns, even, to, e. g. I vigtut in Greenland, and to 

 Spitzbergen 1 . 



Thus, in the list of vascular piants above no less than 40 spe- 

 cies are recorded as having been recently »accidentally introduced.« 

 Of the 285 numbered species, a large number have unquestionably, 

 in former days, been introduced to the Færoes by man, and later 

 on conveyed from one island to another, viz. many of the species 

 menlioned above as »common in cultivated fieids,« »common in 

 enclosed fieids,« »on cultivated ground,« etc. (species such as Stel- 

 laria media, Spergula arvensis, Capsella bursa pastoris, Urtica dioica, 

 Viola tricolor , Agrostis stolonifera, Alopecurus geniculatus, Holcus 

 mollis, Poa annua, Poa trivialis, Juncus bufonius, etc). The per- 

 centage of these piants average some 12 — 13, and to this may be 

 added many of the species recorded as occurring in the low-lamls. 

 The latter must, at any rate, be assumed to have immigrated when 

 a more congenial climate prevailed; their percentage averages some 20. 



1 See Ostenfeld, Botanisk Tidsskrift, 24 (1902), p. LUI. Hk s tam, Tromsø 

 Museums Aarshefter, 1897. 



