NATURAL AREAS AND REGIONS 



107 



of the peninsula on the undisturbed 

 original till of the drift ridges. Its 

 northern limit approximates the fifty- 

 fourth parallel. 



8. Balsam poplar (Populus balsami- 

 fera) grows farther north than the 

 aspen but it thrives only on the heavy 

 clay soil of the river valleys or that 

 derived from limestone and shale rocks. 

 Its extreme northern limit is near the 

 head of Ungava Bay, thence south- 

 eastward to the mouth of Hamilton 

 Inlet, and southwestward to Bishop 

 Roggan river on the shore of Hudson 

 Bay. 



At least one-half of the original forest 

 cover has been burned off, and a second- 

 ary growth of black spruce, Banksian 

 pine, aspen, and white birch replaces 

 the former forest. In many places 

 only blackened stumps and small second 

 growth extend for miles over the plateau 

 and up the river valleys, with here and 

 there a large thrifty tract of the original 

 forest to indicate the character of the 

 former pristine forest covering. 



Throughout the forest belt, the low- 

 lands fringing the streams are covered 

 over with thickets of low willows and 

 alders. Toward the semi-barrens north- 

 ward, these fringes of shrubbery become 

 wider, and with dwarf birch occupy 

 much of the open glades. The willows 

 and birches grow on the hillsides above 

 the tree-line up to the "Felsenmeer" 

 and its patches of Sphagnum or Cla- 

 donia tundra, and form low thickets 

 through which it is difficult to pass. 

 North of the tree-limit similar thickets 

 of Arctic willow, birch, and alder grow 

 over the lower reaches, but on the hills 

 they attain only a carpet-like form. 

 Ledum and Kalmia in tangled masses 

 form the undergrowth of the southern 

 forest region, but die out in the semi- 

 barrens. Sphagnum is the ground car- 

 pet of the southern regions, being re- 

 placed by Cladonia to the north, a rich 

 growth everywhere throughout the 

 semi-barrens and barren regions. 



The semi-barrens and barren moun- 

 tain-tops and northern tracts are either 

 areas of "Felsenmeer" with little vegeta- 



tion, or tundra or tundra-moor vegeta- 

 tion such as is found along the coast. 

 Over 450 species of vascular plants have 

 been reported, including about 35 Com- 

 positae, 30 Ericaceae, 30 Cruciferae, 

 30 Rosaceae, 30 Cyperaceae, 30 Gra- 

 mineae, 25 Caryophyllace; 20 Saliceae, 

 20 Saxifragaceae, 20 Ranunculaceae, 

 and 15 Scrophulariaceae. 



During the short summer season the 

 open places of the peninsula become 

 dotted with the blossoms of berry- 

 bearing shrubs and flowering plants. 

 Nearly all vernal in character, they 

 burst into bloom abruptly, just as breaks 

 the summer. Their flowering and grow- 

 ing season is brief, and they hasten 

 through their vegetative and reproduc- 

 tive processes in a rapid, continuous 

 succession by which the aspect of the 

 landscape seems often to change over 

 night. Grassy, sedgy, swales are dotted 

 with the plants of the moor; gravelly, 

 clayey slopes become colored with the 

 heath-plants in every warm sheltered 

 nook; and every niche and ledge among 

 the rocks bears a flower, or a bit of fern, 

 or sedge, or grass. The subarctic land- 

 scape during the all too brief summer 

 is far from monotonous. 



ANIMAL LIFE 



Mammals 



Of the land-mammals the barren- 

 ground caribou is the most significant 

 form in the whole fauna of the peninsula. 

 The woodland caribou once abundant, 

 and the chief reliance for food of the 

 Nascaupee and Montaignais Indians, 

 has been almost exterminated, with the 

 result that a large portion of these 

 tribes has perished from starvation. 



The barren-ground caribou ranges 

 immense herds over the barren and 

 semi-barren grounds. These animals 

 spend the summer season on the barren 

 highlands near the coast where the 

 strong winds reduce the number of 

 flies and mosquitoes that plague all 

 life. In the autumn they migrate in- 

 land and southward into the semi- 

 barrens of the lower lands, * and [re- 



