CRUISE OF STEAMEE CORWIN IN THE ARCTIT OCEAK 



49 



SA IXT MICH J EL' H. 



The region about Saint JMicliael's is a nia}:iiifi(!Piit tundra, crowdt-fl with ArotK; lichens and 

 mosses, which here develop under most favorable conditions. In the spongy plnsh formed by the 

 lower plants, in which one sinks almost knee decii at every step, there is a sparse gniwth of 

 grasses, carices, and rushes, tall enough to wave in the wind, while cinpetruni, the dwarf Hindi, 

 and the various heathworts tlourish liere in all their beauty of bright leaves and Howers. The 

 moss mantle for the most jiart rests on a stratum of ice that never melts to any gieal cxieiit, and 

 the ice on a bed rock of black vesicular lava. Kidges of the lava rise here and there above the 

 general level in rough masses, affording ground for plants that like a drier soil. Numerous 

 hollows and watercourses also occur on the general tundra, whose well drained banks are decked 

 with gay flowers in lavish abuudance, and meadow patches of grasses shoulder high, suggestive 

 of regions much farther south. 



The following plants and a few doubtful speoies not yet detci mined were collected here ; 



Linnpta horenlix, Gronov. 

 Cassiope tetragone, Desv. 

 Andromeda pn/ifolia, L. 

 Loiselcuria prnnimbeus, Desv. 

 Vaccinium Vitis WrPn, L. 

 Arclontaplinlos alpinn, Spring. 

 Ledum palitsire, L. 

 Xardosmiafrigida. Hook. 

 Satismrea alpina, Dl. 

 Senerio frigidus, Les.-i. 



pnlustris. Hook. 

 Arntoi aiigunlifoliii, Vahl. 

 Artemisia arctica, Bess. 

 Matricaria inodora, L. 

 Ruius ctinmcK moniK, L. 



artiiits, L. 

 Potentilln nirea, h. 

 r>r>ias oclopelala, L. 

 Draha alpina, L. 



« incana, L. ' 



Entrema arenicola, Hook? 

 Pedicularm sudctica, Willd. 



euphrasioides, Steph. 

 Langsdorffii, Fisch, var. lanntn. (fray. 

 Diapensia Lapponiea, L. 

 Polrmoium ccenileum, L. 

 Primula borealis, Daly. 



Ori/lropis jioitma rpa , (iray. 

 Ai'lrngaliis alpiiun', I.. 



frigidvs, (iray, xar. liitornlis. 

 Lathpiis marilimiis, Higelow. 

 Armaria taliritlnra, T/. 

 Stellaria hitgipcn, (JoUiie. 

 Silene acaidiK, L. 

 fia.rifraga nirulis, L. 



Iiieracifoliii, W. aiirt K. 

 Anemone narfii>»iJlorn, L. 



parriHora, Michx. 

 Caltha pnlmlriK. L., var. nsarifnlia, Rothr. 

 Valeriana eapitnia, Willfl. 

 Lloydia serotina, Keichmb. 

 Tofieldia coccinea., Richards. 

 Armeria viilgarix, Willd. 

 Cori/dali)! panriflora. 

 Pingiiiciila Villosa, L. 

 Mertensia paniculata, Desv. 

 Polygonum alpinum, All. 

 Epilobium latifolium, L. 

 Bdula nana, L. 

 Alnnx riridis, Dl. 

 Lrivplioruni capilaliim. 

 Oirex vulgaris, Willd, var. alpinn. 

 Aspidium fragrans, Swartz. 

 U'oodsia lloensis, Bv. 



aoLo vix BA y. 



The tundra flora on the west side of Golovin Bay is remarkably close and luxuriant, covering 

 almost every foot of the gronnrl, the hills as well as the valleys, while the sandy beach and a 

 bank of coarsely stratified moraine material a few yards liack from the beach were blooming like 

 a garden with Lathyrus marifimi<fi, Iris sihirmi, Polemoninm ccerHleHm,&c., diversitied with clumps 

 and patches of Elymus nienarius, Alnus ririelis, and Ahies alhn. 



This is one of the few points on the east side of Bering 8ea where trees closely approach the 

 shore. The white spruce occurs here in small groves or thickets of well developed erect trees Jo 

 or 20 feet high, near the level of the sea, at a distance of about « ov 8 miles from the mouth of the 

 bay, and gradually become irregular aud dwaifed as they approach the shore. Here a number of 

 dead and dying specimens were observed, indicating that conditions of soil, clima'e, and relations 

 toother plants were becoming more unfavorable, and causing the tree-hue to ecede from the 

 roast. 



H. Ex. 105 7 



