ARCTIC VEGETATION 1 . 585 



oped. The flowers are often large in comparison with the stems 

 and leaves and have usually bright colors. Trees and shrubs 

 are dwarfed and stunted. These as well as much of the other 

 vegetation are compactly branched and of the rosette or radiate 

 type. The mosses form dense, deep, and extensive cushions. 



1075. Types of alpine plants. Schimper distinguishes the 

 following types: ist. Elfin tree. This type has short, gnarled, often 

 hprizontal stems, as seen in pines, birches, and other trees growing 

 in alpine heights. 2d. The alpine shrubs. In the highest alpine 

 belts they are dwarfed and creeping, richly branched and spread- 

 ing close to the ground, while at lower belts they are more like 

 lowland shrubs. 3d. The cushion type. The branching is very pro- 

 fuse and the branches are short and touch each other on all sides, 

 forming compact masses (examples: saxifrages, androsace, mosses, 

 etc.). 4th. Rosette plants. These are perennial, with short stems 

 and very strong roots, and play an important part in the alpine 

 meadows. 5th. Alpine grasses. These usually have much shorter 

 leaves than grasses of the lowlands and consequently form a 

 low sward. 



1076. Variation of individuals of same species in alpine 

 regions and lowlands. It is believed that some species have a 

 very wide distribution so far as elevation is concerned, so that 

 some individuals of a species grow in the lowlands and valleys, 

 while other individuals grow also in the alpine region. But 

 the form of the plants in the two widely separated regions is so 

 different that they are usually regarded as distinct species. Ex- 

 periments have been made (especially by Bonnier) in transplant- 

 ing alpine plants to the lowlands. In some of these experiments 

 single alpine individuals were divided, one half taken to the 

 lowlands and the other half kept in the alpine regions, while the 

 soil used in both cases was taken from the lowlands. In a few 

 years in a number of cases the halves of individuals transplanted 

 to the lowlands took on the form of lowland species which were 

 supposed to be the same, while the halves kept in alpine climate 

 underwent no change. This shows that at least some of the 

 peculiarities of alpine plants are due to the alpine climate. 



