BERNT lyncp:. M.-N. Kl. 



the coast, Cïranvin at the ii|)|)( i' ( iid nt iIk I lardanf^crfiorfi, tli<- I lardangcr- 

 vidda and Stat have been thorouj^liK' (■x[)lored by liini, l)ut other western 

 districts have never been visited by a lichenologist. 



The greatest gap in the whole country is the vast extent from Stat 

 to Saiten in Nordland. There arc only collfctions from More (Havaas), 

 Trondhjem (Kindt) and the coast of Nordland from Namsos and northwards 

 (Malmgreen, Norman). Saltdalen was the residence of S. C. Sommerkelt, 

 his herbarium is exquisite, but not large. No other province in Norway 

 is so well represented in our herbaria as Troms and Finmark (Wahlen- 

 berg, Th. Fries, Norman), but the coast from I.r)roten to Nordkap still 

 leaves us much to be done. 



The Botanical Museum at Kristiania possesses the following important 

 herbaria: M. N. Blytt, S. C. Sommerfklt, N. G. Moe, Fr. Kiær, and the 

 greatest part of Norman's herb., Bergen has Havaas' and Kindt's, Upsala 

 Wahlenberg's and Th. Fries' herbaria. 



From a systematic point of view, exploration is still more unequal. 

 We may in general say that the distribution of the larger lichens is fairly 

 well known. This is also the case with a great part of the more conspi- 

 cuous crustaceous lichens. But many microlichenes (espec. the Pyreno- 

 carpicae) are very difficult of determination, and lack of literature and 

 material for comparison prevented many of our men from doing what they 

 could have done in more favourable circumstances. 



No literary work has impressed lichenological investigation in Norway 

 more profoundly than the Lichcnographia Scandiuavica by Th. M. Fries. 

 If this work had been completed, Pyrenocarpous lichens had not been so 

 much neglected. 



It is well known that some lichens are eastern and others western 

 plants in Norway. But as 3'et no attempt has been made to join lichens 

 of the same distribution to geographical divisions, and to study their rela- 

 tion to foreign floras. It is the aim of this publication to do so. 



For that purpose it became necessary to work up the material in an 

 almost monographical manner. My monograph of the Norwegian Physcia- 

 ceae was a preliminary study. — It is only the distribution of the smallest 

 units, the petites espèces, that is of interest to us. Lichen olivacciis L. 

 has no interesting distribution of its own, but PanncUa olivacca Nvl. has. 



It further became necessary to give detailed information regarding all 

 the known stations for the species and formae. If the knowledge of our 

 lichens had been as great as it is in the case of phanerogamous plants, 

 it would have been sufficient to state the distribution in a more general 

 manner. But as long as it is so deficient we must make a sharp distinc- 

 tion between facts and conclusions. 



The systematic value of man}' 'species' is contested. In some cases 

 this should not be necessaiy. Scientists who will not acqnowledge the 

 well defined petites espèces of the Ponuella olivacca tribus look upon nature 



