Q1 
STUDIES ON THE VEGETATION OF ICELAND 
The Geiri Vegetation. Figs. 9—10 and table 13 A—B. 
Where for orographic reasons the snow forms a covering early 
in the autumn, remains on the ground in a more or less deep layer 
throughout the winter, and does not melt until late spring, a special 
type of vegetation is developed which may be called by the Icelandic 
name Geiri (the vegetation of the snow-patches). 
It is a characteristic of the snow patch that the underlying soil 
is never knolly as is the case with the surrounding mo, and further 
that the vegetation is fairly luxuriant. These two circumstances in 
conjunction make the snow patch very conspicous even from a long 
way off (see figs. 9—10). 
In table 13 A the circling results for the geiri vegetation of Lyng- 
dalsheidi have been tabulated; this vegetation is only present in the 
middle and upper tracts of the heath, from c. 200 m above sea level 
and upwards. It was most characteristic at the upper levels. 
The geiri vegetation comprises several formations which can 
be distinguished with regard to their environment by differences in 
the duration and depth of the snow-covering, the height above the 
sea, and illumination. As regards the general composition of the 
vegetation the following holds good. Vaccinium uliginosum is abso- 
lutely the dominant plant, in conjunction with Empetrum nigrum 
and Deschampsia flexuosa it forms the bulk of the dense luxuriant 
carpet of vegetation. Species like Salix herbacea, Calluna vulgaris, 
Agrostis canina, Festuca rubra, Anthoxanthum odoratum, Luzula 
mulliflora, Carex rigida, Galium boreale, G. Normanni, Cardamine 
pratensis, and Taraxacum officinale also abound. Rubus saxalilis, 
Geranium silvalicum, and Vaccinium myrtillus are characteristic of the 
geiri on Lyngdalsheidi. None of these species has been met with 
in any other type of vegetation. Some typical mo plants occur dis- 
persed throughout the vegetation, in greatest quantity in the least 
typical snow patches, or in the margin of the larger ones. 
In small depressions in the mo, where the snow-covering gives 
rise to another vegetation than in the mo itself, this vegetation is 
fairly uniform throughout the depression. In deeper depressions a 
difference between the vegetation at the bottom and up the sides 
may be perceived. In table 13 A, 4—5 show respectively the typical 
geiri vegetation and the vegetation on the sunny northern side of 
the snow patch. Here the density of species is somewhat greater, 
15.5 as against 13.6, owing to a contingent of mo plants. 
In still deeper snow patches one may distinguish between a 
