254 



ROLF NORDHAGEN 



of 1960. In the meantime a dentist from the town of Molde had written to 

 Professor O. GjaerevoU about a plant which he beheved to be Rhododendron 

 lapponicum and which he had found farthest to the west in Lesja on the 

 Ranakollen Mt. But the dentist had not taken a voucher specimen, neither 





Fig. 8. The distribution in south Norway of Saxifraga hieraciifolia. For its 

 occurrence in north Norway, see Hulten, 1950. 



had he told from what side he had ascended RanaskoUen. Towards west- 

 northwest this mountain precipitates almost vertically down to the River 

 Rauma (after which Romsdalen, the valley of Rauma, is named) After a 

 furtive ascent of the mountain from southeast, I decided to risk climbing its 

 west-northwest face, and first Berg and later I myself succeeded in locating 

 some very sparse occurrences of Rhododendron lapponicum at a little more 

 than 1000 m altitude. 



The most interesting facts concerning the occurrences of the individuals 

 here were first and foremost their depauperated appearance and then the 

 habitat, an ericaceous heath rich in hchens on the very rim of a rock ledge 



