THE FLOE A 409 



covered to a considerable depth with sphagnum, which 

 northward of 51 is gradually replaced by the white lichens 

 or reindeer mosses (Cladonia), which grow freely every- 

 where throughout the semi-barren and barren regions." 



The traveller along the coast, who penetrates but a short 

 distance into the interior, will find little evidence of this 

 forest area, except in sheltered places at the heads of bays. 

 Of the trees and shrubs mentioned by Low, I found only 

 Abies (no farther north than Hamilton Inlet), Larix, Picea, 

 and none of these evergreens were seen north of Hebron, 

 and, mainly in dwarf forms, Alnus, Betula, and Salix. 

 Nowhere did I find thickets of undergrowth that offered 

 any obstacle to travel. 



2. The most common plants characteristic of the sea- 

 shore are seaside sandwort (Arenaria peploides), sea- 

 lungwort or ice-plant (Mertensia maritima), Potentilla 

 anserina and tridentata, a few large Umbelliferce (Ccelopleu- 

 rum actceifolium, Conioselinum Canadense, Ligusticum 

 Scoticum), and one or two species of Plantago. Iris and 

 Lathyrus maritimus also are not unusual in the more south- 

 erly regions. Besides these, almost all of the more common 

 plants of the tundra may occur close to the sea-shore. On 

 sandy places, which are rather rare in Labrador, and which 

 are exposed preeminently to the effect of high winds and 

 scanty water, the number is more limited. For example, 

 on one low sand-dune which I studied at Pottle's Cove, 

 close by the entrance to Hamilton Inlet, in latitude 54, 

 I found only the plants enumerated below, though many 

 others grew on the rocky heights in the near vicinity. The 

 more abundant are italicized, the rest were rarer. 



a. In the more exposed situations exclusively: Arctos- 



