VH.] THE FLORA OF TAIMUR LAND. 253 



except a snow-drift remaining here and there in the hollows. 

 The plains were all covered with a very green continuous 

 vegetation, which however on a closer examination was found 

 to be not a true turf, but a mixture of grasses, allied plants, and 

 a large number of different kinds of mosses and lichens. Actual 

 flowers were found here only sparingly.^ In this respect the 

 coast tmulra shows a remarkable difference from the coast lands 

 on Vaygats Island and Novaya Zemlya. On the other hand, the 

 abundance of luxuriant lichens and mosses was striking. The 

 mosses along the beach and the borders of the snow-drifts 

 remaining here and there bore fruit in abundance. Animal life 

 on land was scanty ; some few reindeer were seen, a mountain 

 fox was killed, and a lemming caught. 



Only the following birds were seen : owls {Strix nydea) rather 

 numerous, of which one was killed ; a species of falcon, which 

 was hunted unsuccessfully ; snow buntings, breeding very gene- 

 rally in the stone mounds ; a covey of snow ptarmigan, of which 

 some young birds were shot ; six species of waders, the most 

 common birds of the region, of which a large number were 

 shot ; two kinds of gulls {Lams glaucus and tridactylus) ; Lcstris 

 2mrasitica and Buffonii, the latter the more common of the two ; 

 Anscr hcrnida, very common ; and finally the long- tailed duck 

 {Harclda glacialis) in great flocks swimming in the Sound. 

 Bird life, viewed as a whole, was still scant}'' here, in comparison 

 with that which we were accustomed to see in the northern 

 regions west of Novaya Zemlya. 



In the sea the higher animal life was somewhat more abun- 

 dant. A walrus had been seen during the passage from the 

 Yenisej, and on the ice drifting about in the Sound a number of 

 seals, both Fhoca harhata and Phoca hispida, were observed. 



1 Dr. Kjellman has given the following list of the flowering plants 

 collected by him in this region : — 



Cineraria frigida Richards. Poa arctica R. Br. 



Potentilla emarginata PuRSH. Arctophila peudulina (L^ST.) AxDS. 



Sasifraga stellaris L. f. comosa. Catabrosa algida (Sol.) Fr 



„ nivalis L. Colpodiam latifolium R. Br. 



„ cernua L. Dupontia Fisheri R. Br. 



., rivularis L. Pleuropogon Sabini R. Br. 



Chrvsosplenium alternifoliuin L. Aira csespitosa L. 



Cardamine bellidifolia L. Hierochloa pauciflora R. Br. 



Draba corynibosa R. Br. Calamagrostis lapponicu (Wg.) Hx. 



Papaver nudicaule L. Alopecurus a'pinus Sm. 



Hannncul'is pygin«us Wo. Eriophonimangustifoliiini Roth. 



,, hyjierboreus Rottb. ,, Scheuchzeri Hoppe. 



„ siilphiireiis SoL. Carex aquatilis Wg. 



Stellaria Edwardsii R. Br. „ rigida Good. 



Cerastiuni alpinurn L. .Junciis biglumis L. 



Alsine inacrocarpa Fexzl. L izula hyperborea R. Br. 

 Salis polaris Wg. „ arctica Bl. 



