37, 



surrounded the flower and apparently formed its chief protec- 

 tion; there were, in addition, two unexpanded basal foliage- 

 leaves with large sheaths, and below two fully- developed leaves, 

 the thin, translucent sheaths of which encompassed the bud. 

 The leaves of the parent-axis had withered (cf. Kjellman, 1. с. 

 Fig.). The other buds of the rosette may attain the flowering 

 stage in the same year as the principal bud; but probably, as 

 a rule, this is delayed until they have become stronger. The 

 dead flower-axes often persist on the rhizome throughout the 

 winter. 



The flower has five perigone-leaves which are densely 

 covered with reddish-brown 

 hairs and are half the length 

 of the oval nectary- 

 leaves; they are bright 

 yellow in colour. The cluster 

 of fruits is oblong; it grows 

 considerably in length after 

 fertilization and becomes as 



much as 14 mm. high. The '^. Base of nectary-leaf with nectary (Kaafjord;8/i). 



B, Almost ripe fruit (Spitzbergen; 6. 8 1910; «,i). 



fruits are somewhat flat- 

 tened and have a rather long and straight beak (Fig. 24, B]. 

 The nectary-leaves have at their base an open pocket-shaped 

 nectary (Fig. 24, A). The flower differs in structure from such 

 as that of R. acer, in which the flower is flat and the stamens 

 longer than the carpels; in the present species the flower is 

 deep and narrow, the stamens short and the head of carpels 

 is high and convex (Lindman 1. с Tab. I, Fig. 10). In Spitz- 

 bergen the diameter of the flower is 10 — 12 mm. (Ekstam) and 

 in Greenland 15 — 23 mm. (Warming, notebook). Both Lindman 

 and Ekstam record that it is proterogynous-homogamous, and 

 the latter thinks that self-pollination cannot easily take place, 

 as the pistil and stigma grow considerably after pollination. In 

 Spitzbergen the flower has a slight perfume, it is visited by 



V\s,. 24. R. nivalis. 



