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Morten P. Porsild 



at the bottom between the heath-plants than in the basah regions; 

 but in small damp depressions there occur, in strong contradistinction 

 to what is the case on the basalt-substratum, quantities of Sphagna 

 — white, grass-green, wine-red or nut-l)rown. 



The shrubs and herbs of the heath become still more luxuriant 

 on rock-ledges which are well covered with humus and suitably 

 damp and sunny. There they form large cushions with hanging 

 branches, for there evidently are the very best conditions for their 

 growth, and such recur every year. Here, a mass of rock with its 

 vegetation can become so beautiful, that others besides botanists 



Fig. 9. Myrtillus iiliginosa var. pubescens. An old bush on a rock-ledge; some of 

 the branches are dead, probably OAving to want of light. 



will think it a pleasant sight. The black Gyrophora-species and also 

 the black crustaceous lichens, which everywhere determine the 

 colour of the coastal districts of Greenland are either wanting here or 

 else are driven so far back that the original strong colouring of the 

 gneiss and the granite appears. Conspicuous among the greenish-brown 

 leaves of the heath-plants are the flowers of the yellow Potentilla 

 nivea, blue Campanula rotnndifolia and C. nniflora, and white Saxi- 

 fraga nivalis, S. Aizoon, and Ledum, but the most beautiful of all are 

 the pale-green Cgstopteris and Woodsia glabella in the crevices, and 

 the large yellowish-green cushions of Aspidinm fragrans. The old 

 leaves especially on Aspidimr persist for several years and the new 

 rosette stands at the top of quite a knoll of dead leaves, stems and 



