GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION Otf TREES. 4& 



In the same zone may be observed the growth of the alder, 

 Alnus incana, D. C., known in England as the hoary-leaved 

 alder. It is met with very frequently so far north as West 

 Finmark, where it may be seen with a height of 20 metres, 

 06 feet 8 inches, and a diameter of 30 centimetres at the 

 level of the ground ; and it grows to almost the same alti- 

 tude as the beech. 



The Alnus glutinosa, Gent., the common alder of Britain, 

 is much less frequently met with. It flourishes always in 

 low valleys along the banks of streams and a humid soil. 

 It is scarcely to be met with above an altitude of from 250 

 to 300 metres ; and its Polar limit is 64 N. lat. 



Of the oak, two species are found growing wild in Nor- 

 way, the sessile fruited oak, Quercus robur, W., and the 

 common oak, Q. pedunculata, W. The latter is found on 

 the west coast up to 63 N.; but the planted oak, up to 

 66 N. In the southern parts of the country it scarcely 

 ever extends beyond 300 metres above the level of the sea. 

 There are small forests of the common oak on the coast 

 between Arendal and Flekkefiord, on the shore of the 

 diocese of Bergen, and in Romsdal. 



The beech, Fagus sylvatica, L., when planted, flourishes 

 up to Stegen in Nordland, 67 56' N. ; and at Drontheim, 

 63 26' N., its seeds come to maturity. As a wild tree, it 

 is not met with beyond 61 N. Even in the southern 

 parts of the country it does not extend beyond 250 metres 

 above the level of the sea. It forms small forests near 

 Tonsberg, near Larvik, near Arendal, and a little north of 

 Bergen, at Sseim, an annex of Hardanger, 66 35' N. At 

 this point is found the most northern forest of wild beeches 

 in the world. 



The elm, Ulmus montana, S., the wych elm of Britain, is 

 met with up to the 67 of north latitude. Its limit of 

 elevation is generally from 500 to 600 metres above the 

 level of the sea. At Solvorn, near one of the branches in 



