322 DR. HOOKER ON THE DISTRIBUTION OF ARCTIC PLANTS. 
to S. nivalis and procumbens. Bentham unites with it S. subulata, Wimm. (procumbens 
ft L.). 
Arenakia nardifolia, Led. This and A. formosa are considered varieties of one by 
Fenzl (Led. Fl. Ross.). Torrey and Gray remark that the Arctic American plant figured 
in ' Flor. Bor.-Am.' does not accord well with Ledebour's. To me they appear both to 
resemble very closely A. lychnidea, M. Bieb, a Caucasian species ; but very large suites 
of all these and their cognate species are required to arrive at any conclusion as to their 
limits. All the North Asiatic and American Alsinew are in a most unsatisfactory state. 
A. Lapponica, Spr., is reduced to A. uligmosa, by Fenzl in e Flor. Boss.,' and both to 
Alsine stricta, Wahl. 
A. Bossii, Br. This, which I find often confounded with rubella in Arctic Herbaria, 
may prove to be a polar state of A. uliginosa, Schl. ; it has been found in very high lati- 
tudes only. 
A. stricta, Mich., is A. {Alsine) Michauxii, Fenzl, according to A. Gray (Bot. N. U. 
States) . 
A. vema, L. Under this name I have grouped four others, which represent as many 
arctic forms of this protean plant, and have all been reduced to it by Fenzl and other 
writers. Thus hirta and propinqua both come under lusus 1. of Fenzl's var. ft hirta ; 
rubella and quadrivalvis under var. 0. glacialis. Fries, however, distinguishes rubella 
specifically from verna by its habit, and rugulose, not granulate seeds. A. Giesekii, 
Horn. (Flor. Dan. 1518), is rubella y of Lange. 
A. Pumilio, Br., is reduced to arctica, Stev., ft by Torrey and Gray ; but if correctly, I 
do not see how arctica is to be kept distinct from biflora, "Wahl. Ledebour's arctica is in- 
deed referred to biflora by Fenzl. According to Fenzl's descriptions (which do not however 
contrast), arctica is distinguished by the broader petals (sometimes narrower by deformity), 
and seeds " lsevissimis fuscis," in opposition to " levissime rugulosis." But I find the 
seeds of the Lapland plant to be undistinguishable under any magnifying power from 
those of the American ; and the petals are, as Fenzl's description states, excessively 
variable in both. 1 
A. Norvegica, Gunn. Fries, who includes this under A. ciliata as a variety, or, perhaps, 
distinct species, assigns it a rather different range, ciliata being found in Lapland and N. 
Finland only ; Norvegica in N. Norway and S. Lapland. A. ciliata alone is found in 
Arctic Russia, according to Ledebour's * Flora;' but neither appear in Ruprecht's 'Samoied 
Flora.' Watson considers their distinctness to be questionable ; and Bentham unites them. 
A. Groenlandica, Spr. This has been found in Arctic Greenland by Kane's Expedition 
only, which brought it from Upernavik, lat. 73° N. 
Honkeseja peploides, Ehr. A doubtful native of Lapland according to Fries, who 
indicates a subspecies (oblongifolia, Torr. & Gray) as inhabiting that country. 
Stellaria crispa, Cham. Fenzl says of this, " A S. boreali vix distincta, facile tamen 
distinguenda." I am at a loss to distinguish it, either by specimens or book characters. 
According to Fries, borealis is rare in Lapland, but its var. calycantha is common through- 
out that country. Planchon, who has studied the genus very carefully, points out (Herb. 
