393 



a Limnae-bogvegetation; but of such I have not seen any 

 vestige. That the ,, Stensletter" have had water over them is, 

 however, plainly seen in the adjacent, somewhat higher tracts 

 of sand-drift, which towards the "Stensletter" have 10 — 30 cm 

 high bluffs with distinct marks of water-erosion. The water, 

 being so shallow, can quickly evaporate or sink into the sand, 

 when the supply ceases. The existence of outlets with distinct 

 watermarks I could not establish. 



The vegetation on the ''Stensletter" is exceedingly scarce. 

 1 noted: 



Dryas octopetala f. minor and argentea, Potentilla nivea, 

 Chamœnerium latifolium, Silène acaulis, Melandrimn trifiorum, 

 Cerastium alpiniim f. lanatum, Arenaria ciliata v. humifusa, 

 Brat/a purpur ascens, Lesquerella arctica, Arabis arenicola, 

 Papaver radicatum, Armeria vulgaris v. sibirica. Polygonum 

 viviparum f. alpina, Salix arctica v. groenlandica, Elyna Bel- 

 lardij Carex nardina, Trisetum subspicatum, Poa pratensis, 

 Poa glauca v. arenaria and Festuca rubra. 



These are plants with a vigorous taproot and closely 

 adpressed tuft-shaped growth or, with regard to the monocoty- 

 ledons, tunicate growth. It is clear that the wind has only a 

 limited time of display, for the hemicryptophytes (Raunkiær: 

 Planterigets Livsformer og deres Betydning for GeograQen) such 

 as Braya, Lesquerella (fig. 17) and Arabis arenicola form 

 round, hemispherical individuals showing no wind-wear whatever, 

 although sometimes some covering with gravel. On the other 

 hand, those which have wintering, epiterranean organs are highly 

 injured on the north side. The monocotyledons, as a rule, 

 manage best; they become, no doubt, rather crumpled, but they 

 have an excellent defence in their old leaf-sheaths, which long 

 resist the sand-wear. The dicotyledons, on the other hand, 

 get very much injured on the north side; any stem, branch or 

 root protruding is stripped of bark, dried up, weathered, bleached 

 and killed. The northern side of a tuft is often an entangled 

 XXX. 27 



