CHAPTER III. 

 FLORA. 



SECTION A. INDIGENOUS PLANTS. 



MUCH which might have found an appropriate place here 

 has been brought under consideration in information sup- 

 plied in regard to forests and forest trees ; but here a more 

 general, and at the same time, a more comprehensive 

 aspect of the subject is brought before us. 



The flora of Finland, and especially that of the eastern 

 portion and of the interior of the country, Dr Helms says 

 has not yet been thoroughly studied, and there are many 

 interesting phenomena which it presents. For example, 

 plants grow in the southern districts which are not found 

 in the midland districts, but which are suddenly again met 

 with in the high northern latitudes, for which, says he, 

 no satisfactory reason has yet been assigned. 



Scandinavia, he goes on to say, is indebted in a great 

 measure to its hills and rocks for the variety seen in its 

 flora. From her mountain ranges branch off lesser spurs 

 extending through the coast districts, and determining the 

 watersheds, and bordering the rivers and streams. The 

 vegetation of the hills, of the valleys, and of the coast, 

 is in consequence of this, and that more especially in 

 Sweden, constantly changing. Finland, and more especi- 

 ally its western coast lands, which are those nearest to 

 Sweden, does not present the same variety. 



In North-Eastern Finland, where the rocky regions may 

 be said to commence, the vegetable world exists only as in 

 a death struggle for existence. These circumstances, and 

 the further extension of the Scandinavian peninsula from 



