378 RIKARD STERNER 



between these provinces in North Germany is to run. The change in the climate 

 from a definitely continental to a definitely maritime character proceeds very 

 slowly, and in the broad transitional zone edaphic factors play a great part in 

 the character of the vegetation and the flora: the continental and the Atlantic 

 elements get abundant opportunities of penetrating into each other's distribu- 

 tion-areas. 



The enquiry which has here been carried out has shown that in South Sweden 

 there prevails, with regard to the distribution of the continental species, a sharp 

 contrast between an easterly and a westerly part. The cause of this is the topo- 

 graphy and, in conjunction therewith, the climate and the distribution of cal- 

 careous soil. 



As has been pointed out above, the eastern part is bounded by a line run- 

 ning from the lower part of the River Dalalven or the north of Uppland across 

 the south-east of Vastmanland and the centre of Narike to the Falkoping district 

 (or possibly Kinnekulle), and from there in a south-easterly direction down to 

 the Kalmar district. Here one might let the boundary run on and turn off in a 

 westerly direction enclosing Blekinge and Skane. But whether Skane should 

 properly be accounted part of this south-easterly region in Sweden, is not quite 

 certain. Many continental species are included in the flora of Skane; and in 

 fact that flora even includes some continental species that are lacking in the rest 

 of South Sweden. But on the other hand the east of Central Sweden, in its 

 turn, has many species which are lacking, or remarkably scarce, in Skane. A 

 close examination of the division of the continental species between Skane and 

 the recently mentioned eastern part of South Sweden (Oland and Gotland ex- 

 cepted) shows that Skane has 13 (16) species that the other region lacks, while that 

 region has i8 species that are not found in Skane, and also 8 species which 

 are much more rare in Skane than in the other region. It would therefore be 

 by no means unjustifiable if the boundary with which we are concerned were 

 made to exclude Skane (consequently also Blekinge). On p. 238 above I have 

 made use of such a boundary when the westward extension of the Sarmatian 

 province was being determined. 



Starting from, the results yielded by this enquiry, one might thus 

 bring a south-easterly part of Sweden, roughly speaking, the east of 

 Central Sweden with the north-east of Smaland, together with Oland 

 and Gotland under the eastern province of the Baltic flora region 

 (Sarmatia), and the south-west of Sweden under the western pro- 

 vince of the Baltic region (Subatlantis). 



As has already been pointed out, this determination of the place of the South 

 Swedish flora in the Middle European flora districts, must be regarded simply as 

 provisional. Above all it is necessary for a final decision that an investigation 



