GREENLAND BY THE POLAR SEA 



and flowers freely raised on shorter or longer stalks, but the shoots are not so 

 close as in the cespitous plants proper. To these belong, for instance, the 

 beautiful yellow or white mountain poppy and several varieties of saxifrage 

 and potentilla. 



In moist soil, in swamps and similar places, grow cotton grass, a few 

 varieties of other grasses, and some other plants; for instance, the yellow- 

 crowfoot. In these varieties the shoots are spread out and stand singly, as 

 do plants in swamps and fens in this country. 



All these plants are perennial ; annual varieties do not exist so far north. 

 It is not possible for a flower to sprout, grow, flower, and fruit during the 

 short summer ; the work has to be distributed over several years, as one single 

 year would merely give time for a slight production of organic matter. Every 

 shoot forms merely a small piece of stalk and a few leaves, so that several 

 years will elapse before the plant is strong enough to develop flower and fruit. 



From the plants of our own country we know that a considerable period 

 generally elapses between flowering and the ripening of the fruit, and as a rule 

 the flowering takes place some time after the leaves have commenced their 

 development in the spring. An Arctic plant has not all this time at its dis- 

 posal, having to flower and fruit during a period of vegetation of two to three 

 months. In most Arctic plants the flowering therefore takes place imme- 

 diately after the development has commenced in the " spring." The red 

 saxifrage is the first vernal flower of the high north. Wulff saw it flowering 

 already on the 12th of June, this being a time when vegetation in many other 

 places had not awakened from its winter rest. But after that things developed 

 rapidly. About two or three weeks after the vegetation as a whole had begun 

 to move, most of the varieties were already in full flower (July 7th to 14th), 

 and by the beginning of August (2nd) the red saxifrage, mountain anemone, 

 and others, were already in " an advanced stage of fruition." The summer was 

 nearly over, and when the expedition after the march across the inland-ice 

 once more came down on ice-free land on the 24th of August, it found the 

 vegetation in its full autumnal garb, with ripe seeds and yellow and russet 

 leaves. 



Thus the plants have a busy time, and they are only enabled to carry out 

 their programme by considering carefully the hours, and by being prepared 

 to set to as soon as spring comes. If one were to examine an Arctic plant 

 immediately before it goes to its winter rest, one would be surprised to see 

 how big are the buds of next year. If the outer protecting husks of such a 

 bud are removed, one will find inside these both leaves and flowers already 

 far developed. They remain in this state throughout the winter, their living 

 tissues, as already mentioned, being able to resist very strong cold; and as 

 soon as spring beckons they burst out. By this the speedy flowering is made 

 possible, and this, again, gives sufficient time for the ripening of the fruit just 

 at the time when the temperature is at its highest. 



The plants which flower earlier are those which become uncovered soonest 

 when the snow in the spring begins to evaporate, and those which have been 

 uncovered by snow through the winter. These are the most hardy varieties. 

 The more delicate — if one may use the word " delicate" in connection with 

 the hardy vegetation of the high North — are covered with snow during 

 winter, and only emerge from its protective cover when the melting of the 

 snow commences in earnest. For the snow pla.ys an important part in plant 

 life, as it prevents too sudden changes in temperature, and also protects them 

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