ol4 FLORA OF PRINCE CHARLES FORELAND, [Suss. rxxi. 
a European one, containing no characteristically American 
elements. It might have been expected that certain 
American forms from Greenland would have been found on 
this island, since it is the most westerly outlier of the 
European arctic regions; but it is not the case, and in all 
probability the Greenland Sea sharply divides American and 
European arctic regions biologically as well as topographically. 
The flora of the Foreland therefore presents no aspects of 
great interest, unless it be the entire absence of this American 
element. 
A few brief notes as to the nature of the soil and the 
physical environment may be of interest. The island is some 
fifty-five miles long by six broad, and is separated from the 
mainland of Spitsbergen by a narrow sound varying from 
eight to two miles in breadth. The interior is very mountain- 
ous, rising to a height of 3850 feet in Mount Monaco, but 
there are extensive stretches of level ground towards the 
south end, and to some extent also at the north-east. Many 
of the valleys are filled with glaciers, particularly on the 
east coast, but only on that coast do some of them reach the 
sea; the northern and southern parts of the island are un- 
glaciated. A raised beach of half a mile to two miles in 
breadth almost encircles the Foreland and is clear of snow 
from June until September, except in the most sheltered 
spots. The west coast has a far more luxuriant vegetation 
than the east coast, which is often barren, but, Dr. Bruce says, 
“even on the west coast there are sterile parts, and one not 
unfrequentiy passes abruptly from the flowery region into a 
veritable desert.” Peat bogs are not uncommon, and they 
support a rich vegetation. At the foot of many of the hills 
a talus occurs, on the upper and more level parts of which 
vegetation is relatively abundant, particularly with a southerly 
or westerly exposure. This is no doubt largely due to the 
increased fertility of the soil in such spots where birds’ 
nesting-places are always to be found, but certainly other 
contributing factors are the more direct insulation and the 
tendency of the soil to be drained of its cold water and thus. 
to become more physiologically suitable for root absorption to 
take place. 
The rapidity with which Arctic plants complete their 
reproductive processes in the short summer is well known,. 
