THE CONTINENTAL FLORA OF SOUTH SWEDEN 367 



in Western Europe; and on the other hand many species in the Western European 

 »grove» have a distinctly westerly distribution. 



The westerly limit of the first- named species runs, as a rule, through the west 

 of Germany or the north and east of France (see p. 234). Amongst these spe- 

 cies may be observed both a few trees and shrubs — Acer platanoides, Ulmus 

 foliacea Gilib. and laevis Pallas, and Lonicera xylosteum — and many species 

 in the ground vegetation, such as Anemone hepatica and ranunculoides (which 

 are physiognomically very prominent), Pulmonaria officinalis (both the more 

 southerly officinalis vera and the north-easterly obscura Du Mort.), Corydalis 

 cava, intermedia, pumila, and solida, Gagea minima and spathacea, Viola mira- 

 bilis, and Lathyrus vernus. 



The »grove» vegetation of South Sweden belongs, in the main, to the East- and 

 Central European type. It is closely connected with the »Laubmischwalder» of 

 Central Europe. 



As regards the distribution of the continental » grove » species in South Swe- 

 den, I shall here only mention briefly one or two circumstances. 



Some species are very extensively distributed in Scandinavia, as throughout 

 the north of Europe: Acer platanoides, Gagea minima, Lathyrus vernus, Loni- 

 cera xylosteum, and Viola mirabilis. The continental character of the distribu- 

 tion does not appear clearly until somewhat far towards the south, inasmuch as 

 the species are lacking in the whole or in a great part of Western Europe. I'he 

 distribution of these species in the south of Sweden does not diverge from the 

 type of distribution which is generally characteristic of » grove » plants in that 

 region, that is to say the species are absent or are rare in the South Swedish 

 highland. For many species the area of distribution is more or less completely 

 divided into a southern one (Skane and Blekinge) and a northern one, which 

 two are joined in the east by occurrences on Oland and Gotland and, in the 

 case of some species, by sporadic occurrences in the east of Smaland. These 

 types of distribution reflect of course, the possibilities of occurrence that exist in 

 South Sweden for » grove » vegetation. 



A species which is of a more southerly continental character in its general 

 distribution but shows this type of distribution in South Sweden is Biomus 

 Benekeni (Lge.) Syme, the distribution of which in the Scandinavian countries 

 has been mapped by Samuelsson 1922 a, p. 51. 



Poa rcniota Forselles diverges from the above-named species by its more 

 north-easterly distribution. In Scandinavia its main distribution lies in the south- 

 east of Norway, in the south of Norrland, and in the east of Central Sweden. 

 Further towards the south in Sweden it has only a small number of scattered 

 occurrences. The species may be said to form a transition to a group of » grove » 

 species that are limited to the Subarctic zone (sensu Engler), where they are en- 



