192 THE LAST CRUISE OF THE MIRAXDA. 



The blueberry was perhaps the most welcome plant found. 

 I saw here, bud, blossom, green and ripe fruit, all on one bush. 

 It is scraggy and low, but the ripe berries tasted so civilized ! 

 In all books of Arctic travel one reads so much of the Arctic 

 poppy, with its flaunting yellow petals. Naturally I searched 

 for the plant, which is so abundant farther north, but 

 I found only one plant, with a bare seed capsule, the petals 

 having fallen off. 



Rarely one finds a low juniper with green berries, the 

 climate being adverse to the ripening of the fruit. Grasses 

 are confined to a few species. A small, pretty festuca is the 

 most common, making a pretty lawn on every level plot, and 

 often appearing in feathery tufts in the crevices of the rocks. 

 A large, barley-like grass, growing along the sandy beaches, is 

 the largest grass found. It grows about two feet high. 



Of special interest is the angelica, thriving luxuriantly in 

 the ravines and lowlands, in sheltered places. It is the only 

 vegetable known to the Eskimo's palate, and is gathered in 

 large quantities, but never preserved for winter use. It grows 

 about eighteen inches high, and has the peculiar flavor which 

 characterizes so many umbelliferae and makes them a favorite 

 dish with us. 



There are but few varieties of ferns, all growing in 

 sheltered places, behind rocks. The commonest is a pteris, 

 and occasionally one sees an ophiaglassum and aspidium. 



It was intensely interesting to note the gradual change of 

 flowers as we stopped at various places along the coast. Our 

 own flora was little modified at Cape Breton only the flowers 

 were about three weeks later than in southern New York. 

 Newfoundland added several new species, including the pretty 

 forget-me-not, while Labrador's flora was entirely new, and 

 quite introductory to the Greenland flora. 



Of the Labrador plants, none of us will forget the ' ' cur- 

 lew-berry " wnich grew everywhere so abundantly (found in 



