Mah. 1900.] BOTANICAL SOCIETY OF EDINBURGH 355 



On the bleakest and most exposed surfaces, as far as 

 the explorer has reached on land, this remarkable flower 

 has been met with. Cold, snow, and tempest seem to make 

 no impression on it." 



It is the only representative of its order, but it makes 

 up for the absence of its relatives by the abundance of 

 its individuals. This gives the keynote to the fauna 

 and flora of the Arctic Eegions : the species are few, 

 but the individuals abundant. 



The order Cruciferse is represented by eighteen species 

 in Spitsbergen, and the present collection includes five 

 of these. It is well for the Arctic explorer to know that 

 no species of Cruciferaj possesses poisonous properties, and 

 that many of them make excellent salads, chief among 

 these are the species of Cochlearia, which were much 

 used by Mr. Bruce and his fellow-travellers. 



Of the other species of Cruciferfe the Brahas are perhaps 

 the most attractive. 



The Caryophyllacece are represented by four species, 

 and the most widely distributed of these is the Cerastium 

 alpinum, which seems to exist wherever the Poppy is 

 found. 



Alpine botanists will also welcome the lowly Silene 

 acaulis, which is all but as widely distributed as the 

 Cerastmm. 



Stellaria humifusa is also very common. Lychnis 

 apetala is rarer than the other three, but common enough 

 in Novaya Zemlya, it is the Mclandryum apetalum, L., Fzl. 

 of Von Heuglin's list. 



The two representatives of liosacea? in the present 

 collection are Dryas octopetala and Potentilla fragiformis ; 

 the former is equally common in the Arctic with the Poppy 

 and Cerastium, the latter is also common. 



The order Saxifragacea? has eleven species in Spitsbergen, 

 and Mr. Bruce collected nine of these, the commonest and 

 most striking being Saxifraga oppositifolia, S. Ilirculus, 

 and ^S*. ccespitosa. 



Pediadaris hirsida is the only representative of Scro- 

 phulariacete in Spitsbergen, and it is found in the present 

 collection. 



Of six Compositffi the only one here is Erigeron uniflorus. 



