STUDIES ON THE VEGETATION OF ICELAND 179 
3. Soil moist Myri 
a. Stagnant water For myri(swampy myri) 
b. Running water Fét myri 
c. Springs Halla myri 
4. Soil always covered with water 
a. Stagnant water Flöi 
b. Running water Fen 
c. Springs Dy 
III. Vegetation with a constant and deep snow-covering 
1. Normal light conditions, no leaf-fall Geiri (snow patch) 
2. Shade and leaf-fall Forest ground 
6. Of the individual types of vegetation the following may be 
mentioned. 
The mosathembur vegetation is bare of snow in the winter. 
The surface is covered with a dense and thick carpet of moss in 
which there occurs a scattered vegetation of high arctic plants poor 
in species. The amount of geophytes is unusually large. As a cli- 
matically conditioned type the mosathembur vegetation is confined 
to the North Atlantic region, in Iceland to the higher levels of South 
Iceland and especially East Iceland. 
The melar vegetation is likewise bare of snow in the winter. 
The surface is covered with gravel and is dry, with polygonal for- 
mation or solifluction. The vegetation is open, but with a relatively 
high number of species and density. 
The mo vegetation, in point of environment, is characterised 
by a normal snow-covering and by the fact that it is unaffected by 
the ground water. The surface is knolly and covered with vegetation. 
The vegetation is both rich in species and dense, and consists of 
an equal mixture of arctic and southern plants which are either 
Ch or hemicryptophytes. 
The jadar vegetation like the mo has a normal snow-cover- 
ing but is confined to moderately moist soils, i. e. soils dry in sum- 
mer and wet in winter. The surface has large knolls and is covered 
with a dense vegetation rich in species (both the number and den- 
sity of species attain their maximum in jadar). The vegetation con- 
sists of an equal mixture of arctic and southern species, though 
compared with the adjacent types the southern species attain a re- 
lative maximum here. H are the dominant life-form, attaining their 
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