254 



Oxyria digynia, of which rootstock and leaves are used, and two 

 species of scurvy-grass, Cochlearia groenlandica and C. fenestrata, 

 of which the foHage is used. The flower spikes of a lousewort, 

 Pedicularis lanata, are also eaten. Among the food plants of more 

 southern parts of Greenland may be counted Archangelica 

 officinalis and Chamaenerium latifolium, the latter a relative of 

 our fireweed. 



As said before, there are no trees in northern Greenland nor 

 in EUesmere Land. The woody flora consists of a few low bushes 

 and undershrubs. Betula flahellifolia extends north to latitude 

 72°, the other dwarf birches are confined to southern Greenland. 

 Two willows, Salix groenlandica and S. anglorum, are found in 

 the whole of Greenland and in EUesmere Land; the latter also 

 throughout arctic America. One sterile specimen collected by 

 Dr. Wolf on Grant Land seems to be 5. arctica, not known from 

 this region before. S. herbacea extends in Greenland north to 

 76° and S. glauca ovatifolia to 72°, The other Greenland willows 

 are confined to the southern portion. None of them are found 

 in EUesmere Land. 



The other undershrubs are the crowberry, Diapensia lap- 

 ponica, and members of the heath and huckleberry families, all 

 mentioned above except Cassiope tetragona. A few degrees 

 south of Etah a few more are added, as for instance, Phyllodoce 

 caerulea, Andromeda polifolia, Cassiope hypnoides, Chamaecistus 

 procumbens, Rhododendron lapponicum, and Ledum decumbens. 

 In EUesmere Land the woody vegetation consists of the three 

 willows mentioned above, Diapensia lapponica, Vaccinium 

 uliginosiim microphyllum, Cassiope tetragona, and Empetrum 

 nigrum. 



Nearly all of the plants of northern Greenland and EUesmere 

 Land are perennials. The majority are densely tufted or matted 

 plants, some of them making large carpets. Among these can be 

 counted many of the saxifrages and crucifers. Others have root- 

 stocks, often thick and fleshy, as Rhodiola rosea, Oxyria digyna, 

 several species of Pedicularis and Taraxacum; sometimes these 

 are more slender, as the species of Ranuncidus, the sedges, and the 

 grasses. 



