268 SPOKT IN NORWAY. 



MISSELTOE ( Viscuin album, L. " Mistilteinn "). Only found 

 between lat. 59 25' 30" and lat. 59 29' 40" on the western shore 

 of the Christiania, usually on lime or oak. The misseltoe figures 

 in Norwegian mythology. " Freya had extorted a promise from 

 all the plants on the earth not to injure Baldr. But alas ! she 

 had omitted the misseltoe. The crafty Loke found this out, and 

 making an arrow from the wood of the misseltoe, he gave it to 

 blind Hbdr, who shot Baldr with it." 



MOUNTAIN ASH (Sorbus Aucuparia, L. "Rogn"). Grows wild 

 over the whole country up to Finmark ; the fruit will ripen 

 under lat. 70. Its altitude is the same as that of birch. 



NORWAY MAPLE ( Acer platanoides, L. "Hlynr" old Norsk). 

 Grows wild in low lands up to lat. 61. Near Laurdal inThele- 

 marken, there is a tree 62 feet high, the trunk 10 feet in circum- 

 ference ; it is 65 to 70 years old. 



NORWAY SPRUCE FIR (Pimts Abies, L. " Gran "). This and 

 the Scotch fir constitute the most extensive forests in the south- 

 east of the country. On the western coast it is rare, and from 

 Lindesnajs to lat. 62, proximity to the sea seems unfavourable 

 to its growth. This is probably owing to the fact that its roots 

 penetrate but to a little depth below the surface, but run in a 

 horizontal direction, and thus it cannot so well endure the stormy 

 winds which sweep over the Atlantic. Forests of this tree appear 

 up to lat. 67, but never higher. A group of the Pinus orientalis 

 is said to have been found in East Finniark near the Eussian fron- 

 tier. Their altitude is, in general, 2,700 to 2,900 feet below the 

 limit of eternal snow. 



OAK (Quercus peduncidata, Ehrh. "Eeg"). Grows wild in 

 the eastern districts up to lat. 61, and to lat. 63 on the west 

 coast. Though in comparison with oaks in England the oak- 

 tree in Norway attains a small size, yet occasionally specimens 

 may be found which are remarkable both as regards height and 

 circumference of the trunk. Thus at Valen in Sondhordland, 

 lat. 59 40', there is an oak-tree which is 125 feet high, and the 

 circumference of the trunk is about 26 feet, measured at a dis- 

 tance of 3 feet from the ground. A specimen of still larger 

 dimensions had formerly stood on the same property, but was 

 blown down about 70 years ago. It is said that " 24 workpeople 

 one day took shelter within its hollow trunk ; 22 got inside," says 

 the historian, naively, " the other 2 remained outside." 1 



