4 o8 ANGIOSPERMAEDICOTYLEDONES 



Karlvaxtflora/ pp. 28-9). A well-marked small-flowered female form, and a specimen 

 with normal flowers, but only 56 % of functional pollen-grains, were also observed. 

 Ekstam ('Bliitenbiol. Beob. a. Spitzbergen ') describes the flowers as possessing 

 a strong and agreeable odour of almonds: diameter 14-16 mm. (in some cases 

 18-22 mm.). The colour is usually pure white, but the centre of the corolla is 

 sometimes marked with red lines, and tinged with pink. Ekstam, confirming the 

 observations of Warming, states that marked protandry obtains for Spitzbergen. 

 Only the uppermost flower develops as a rule, the others being transformed into 

 bulbils. The flowers are extremely sensitive to light, and assume a fixed light- 

 position when the illumination is favourable. Ekstam did not find any ripe fruits 

 in Spitzbergen. 



Abromeit says that terminal flowers with small petals completely hidden in the 

 calyx (var. crypiopetala K. Rosenvinge) were observed in Greenland ('Bot Ergeb. 

 von Drygalski's Gronlandsexped.,' p. 34). 



For Nova Zemlia, Ekstam describes the flowers as conspicuous (diameter up to 

 20 mm.) and smelling slightly of almonds. They are usually protogynous-homo- 

 gamous, sometimes protandrous-homogamous. 



Visitors. On six days of July and August Ekstam saw small and medium-sized 

 flies in Spitzbergen. He also noticed a medium-sized fly in Nova Zemlia. 



970. S. nivalis L. (Lindman, 'Bidrag till Kanned. om Skandin. Fjellvaxt. 

 Blomn. o. Befrukt.'; Warming, Bot. Tids., Kjobenhavn, xvi, 1888, pp. 14-17.) 

 The flowers of this species are small and inconspicuous, the erect petals being little 

 longer than the calyx. The nectar is half concealed. Warming says that protogyny 

 is not well marked, while homogamy is not infrequent, and cultivated plants may 

 even exhibit protandry. Lindman observed homogamy with a tendency to slight 

 protandry on the Dovrefjeld. According to Warming, self-pollination is inevitable 

 in protandrous plants ; but this is less easily possible in the case of the Norwegian 

 form, which possesses reflexed stamens. Both Lindman and Warming observed 

 ripe fruits. 



Ekstam says that the flowers are commonly protandrous in Nova Zemlia, 

 though some are homogamous or slightly protogynous-homogamous. The diameter 

 of the flowers in Arctic Siberia is 10 mm., according to Kjellman. 



Andersson and Hesselman state that the species flowers in Spitzbergen from 

 the beginning of July to the end of August or the beginning of September, and sets 

 fruit every year (' Bidrag till Kanned. om Spetsbergens o. Beeren Eil. Karlvaxtflora,' 

 p. 22). The flowers are 5*5-8 mm. in diameter, and white or bright greenish- 

 yellow in colour, sometimes with a reddish spot near the tip of each petal. The 

 stamens are orange-coloured, and the ovary greenish-yellow. The pollen-grains 

 quickly swell up in distilled water. Ekstam found the flowers in Spitzbergen proto- 

 gynous-homogamous, and noticeably fragrant. He states that the stigmas are 

 situated at the same or a lower level than the anthers, which bend inwards when 

 they dehisce, and autogamy is thus made possible (' Bliitenbiol. Beob. a. Spitzbergen,' 

 p. 11). 



For the variety j9 tenuis Wahl., in Greenland, Abromeit gives the colour of the 

 flowers as white or light purple, and that of the filaments as more or less purple 

 ('Bot. Ergeb. von Drygalski's Gronlandsexped.,' p. 32). 



