Some Notes concerning the Vegetation of Germania Land 409 



This species varies highly and appears to understand fully the 

 art of adaption and its signification. Near places where food is 

 plentiful — as in the manured spots around parts of skeletons of 

 the musk-oxen — and also where it is protected by surrounding grass- 

 tufts its internodes always become greatly elongated. On June 16, 

 1907, I found near Hvalrosodde stems apparently quite dead, with 

 fresh, green buds and green leaves in their upper part. And on 

 May 23, 1908, I came across several places on dry ground where, 

 also upon withered old plants there occurred fresh buds, although 

 the whole was so frozen and dry that it crumbled between my 

 fingers. 



Arenaria ciliata (L) var. humifusa (Wahlenb.). This plant has 

 decidedly protandrous, insect-pollinated flowers. Honey is secreted 

 abundantly in five glands at the base of the stamens in front of 

 the sepals, and it sometimes occurs in clear beads at the base and 

 gives to the plant a strong, sweetish perfume recalling that of buck- 

 wheat {Polygonum fagopyrum) or heather {Calluna vulgaris). Where 

 the plant occurs in large quantities in a locality it colours the 

 ground as if with balls of snow of purest white; but these white 

 cushions are not very conspicuous when the sun stands high in the 

 sky because in that case they harmonize too closely with the light, 

 clayey soil mixed with sand which this species especially prefers 

 and which, only when otherwise illuminated, presents enough 

 contrast to show up the plant. The perfume is evidently sufficient 

 to attract insects. 



This species occurs most frequently with five styles. When 

 only three styles are present these appear to be shorter than in the 

 flowers which are 5-merous, and in contradistinction to such they 

 stand erect and with their reddish-purple stigmas placed closely 

 together. (See Warming, 1890, I.e. p. 221, fig. 14). 



On September 4, 1907, this species was flowering on the west 

 side of Varderyggen where it occurs as a spring plant which, in 

 spite of frost, bears fresh shoots; however, the stamp of autumn 

 was imparted by the reddish-brown colour of the young leaves. 



Cerastium alpinum L. On May 21, 1908, a tuft was found with 

 flowers that had survived the winter. New, fresh shoots were easily 

 recognizable in the tuft. On the 23rd of the month I found several 

 specimens with flowers from the previous year, as fresh to look at 

 as if newly expanded, had not the protruding seed-capsule betrayed 

 their age. The plant stood under the snow in the shelter of some 

 stones — the protection being lowest towards east — in a depression 

 where the plant must have been covered with snow from the first 

 snowy day in September. Already for a long time the sun's heat 



