412 LABRADOR 
low depressions, forming moors; and well-watered, sunny 
slopes. The first three of these are emphasized forms of 
the tundra; the last departs from the tundra type, form- 
ing oases in it. 
(a) The alpine conditions of the higher mountains, which 
are confined almost wholly to the northern half of the 
country, are unfavourable to any form of life. Thesummits 
consist of broken masses of rock, a Felsenmeer of rough and 
continuous boulders of various size. Among these, only 
scattered clumps of struggling plants can find footing and 
the essential conditions for living. The number of indi- 
viduals, even among the mosses and lichens, is small, and 
the species are few. Ononesummit (Mt. Faunce, 4400 feet, 
latitude 59°) I found above 3300 feet only the following: 
Cerastium alpinum, Draba fladnitzensis, Saxifraga cespitosa, 
S. rivularis, S. nivalis, Papaver nudicaule, Sedum ?, Luzula 
confusa, mosses (Andreea petrophila, Bryum?, Pogonatum 
alpinum or urnigerum, P. capillare, Racomitrium lanugino- 
sum), and lichens (Alectoria divergens, A. nigricans, Cetraria 
arctica, C. cuculata, Spherophoron coralloides, Stereocaulon 
denudatum, S. tomentosum, Theloschistes polycarpus, Umbila- 
caria proboscidea). 
(6) On protruding rocks but few plants grow, in low, flat, 
spreading cushions. Areas of gravel are also but little 
hospitable to plants, and their covering is consequently 
scanty. The plants that find it possible to survive there 
are to some extent identical with those already described 
as growing well in sand. They are pioneers among plants, 
such as can take root and nourish themselves on the bare 
rock-grains and moisture; and their decay makes richer 
soil for others to grow in. The species of most common 
