448 ALPINE AND ARCTIC PLANTS 



hard glossy leaves, that look as if constructed to brave ex- 

 tremest hardships. It is found on the mountains of Norway, 

 at the height of 3,550 feet on the Scottish hills, according to 

 Watson, and according to Fuchs, at the height of 7,000 feet in 

 the milder climate of the Venetian Alps. In America it is 

 found in Newfoundland, in Labrador, at 4,000 feet on Mount 

 Albert, Gaspe, 1 and in the barren grounds from lat. 65 to the 

 extreme Arctic islands. Gray does not mention its occurrence 

 elsewhere in the United States than the summits of the White 

 Mountains. A member of the same family of the heaths, the 

 yew-leaved phyllodoce (P. taxifolia), presents a still more 

 singular distribution. It is found on all the higher mountains 

 of New England and New York, and occurs also on the moun- 

 tains of Scotland and Scandinavia, but its only known station 

 in northern America is, according to Hooker, in Labrador. 

 As many as nine or ten of the Alpine plants of the White 

 Mountains belong to the order of the Heaths (Ericacece). 

 Another example from this order is Rhododendron Lapponicum, 

 a northern European species, as its name indicates, and scat- 

 tered over all the high mountains of New England and New 

 York, occurring also in Labrador, on the Arctic sea coasts, and 

 the northern part of the Rocky Mountains, and at 4,000 feet 

 on Mount Albert, Gasp (Macoun). 



It would be tedious to refer in detail to more of these plants, 

 but I must notice two herbaceous species belonging to differ- 

 ent families, but resembling each other in size and habit the 

 Alpine epilobium (E. alpinum or alsinefolium\ and the Alpine 

 speedwell ( Veronica alpina). Both are in the United States 

 confined to the highest mountain tops. Both occur as alpine 

 northern plants in Europe, being found on the Alps, on the 

 Scottish Highlands, and in Scandinavia. Both are found in 

 Labrador and on the Rocky Mountains, and the Veronica ex- 



1 Macoun. 



