THE FLORA 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 Saliz. 
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 Umbellifere (Celopleu- 
rum acteifolium, 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 preéminently 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- 
