276 GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION OF PLANTS. 



In the second, or barren ground district, in places where 

 the soil is formed of the coarse sandy debris of granite, and is 

 moderately dry, the surface is covered by a dense carpet of 

 the Cornicularice tristis, divergens, ochroleuca, and pubescens, 

 mixed in damper spots with Cetrarice cucullata and islan- 

 dica. In more tenacious soils other plants flourish ; not, 

 however, to the exclusion of lichens, except in tracts of 

 meadow ground. The Rhododendron lapponicum, Kalmia 

 glauca, Vaccinium uliginosum, Empetrum nigrum, Ledum pa- 

 lustre, Arbutus uva ursi, Andromeda tetragona, and several 

 depressed or creeping willows, lie close to the soil, their 

 stems short, twisted, and concealed, with only the summits 

 of the branches showing among mosses or lichens. Here 

 and there, on the moister sides of the hills, there is a gay 

 display of saxifrages, pediculares, or primroses ; and a few of 

 the sandy spots on the coast are enlivened by a beautiful 

 dwarf phlox or a handsome dodecatheon. On the alluvial 

 banks of rivers only are willows of erect growth to be 

 found, and of these the Salix speciosa is the most robust and 

 the handsomest. On the sandy shore of the sea the Pisum 

 (or Lathyrus) maritimum, the Polemonium cceruleum, various 

 blue and yellow Astragali, and several Artemisia flourish. 

 Most of these plants also occur, though more sparingly, in 

 the interior. One circumstance which came under my 

 observation, and has been cursorily alluded to in the Narra- 

 tive (I. p. 322.), is the existence of very ancient stumps of 

 trees, either solitary or grouped, in various places of the 

 barren grounds, seemingly the vestiges of the forest, which 

 had spread more widely over the country some centuries ago 

 than in the present day. Further evidence that such was 

 the case may be obtained in the extension of Pyrolcs, and 

 some other woodland plants, to the coasts of the Arctic Sea. 

 On the sheltered banks of rivers, even in the barren 

 grounds, clumps of living trees occasionally occur; but the 



