SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



265 



PLANTS AND MOSSES IN NORWAY. 



Bv William Edward Nicholson. 



"T^HE expedition of the " Norse King " to Vadso, 

 ■^ on the Varanger Fiord, for the purpose of 

 observing the total eclipse of the sun on August 

 gth last, though a failure from an astronomical 

 point of view, at least afforded an almost unique 

 opportunity to a naturalist of visiting a remote and 

 interesting part of Norway under favourable 

 circumstances. Unfortunately, the expedition was 

 at least a month too late for seeing the country at 

 its best. The sun sank at midnight for a short 

 time below the horizon the night after we rounded 

 the North Cape, for the time since the end of May. 

 Though it is true that there was no real night and 

 there was light enough to read by at midnight, yet 

 with the first setting sun autumn may be said to 

 commence in these high latitudes. Nature had 

 fulfilled her purposes ; the berries were ripe and the 

 young birds were ready to fly away. 



But few opportunities for natural history work 

 presented themselves on the outward voyage, though 

 such as occurred were taken advantage of. The 

 first port touched at was Stavanger, in the South 

 of Norway, from whence an excursion was made 

 overland to Odde, crossing the Horre Pass at about 

 3,000 feet, where many plants such as Cornus 

 sulcica and Metiziesia ccerulea, which were over lower 

 down, were met with in flower, as indeed were 

 many of them again, almost at sea-level, in the far 

 North. 



On leaving Odde we did not touch anywhere 

 until we reached Bodo, well within the Arctic 

 circle, where we had a day on shore. The sur- 

 roundings of Bodo are picturesque, and by climbing 

 the hills at the back of the town we obtained a 

 fine view of the distant Lofoten Islands. It is 

 much to be regretted that some of our party did 

 not remain at Bodo, as it was on the line of 

 totality, and was favoured with a clear sky on the 

 morning of the eclipse. The duration of totality 

 was, however, shorter than at Vadso, and the 

 altitude of the sun at the time was too low to 

 admit of very delicate observations. The whole 

 country round Bodo, at least the low land, with 

 the exception of a hard road made across it, 

 appeared to be covered with bog of varying degrees 

 of stability, the firmest portions being where the 

 peat had been cut for fuel, or where the cultivation 

 of a few patches of rye was attempted. Islands 

 of rocks rose from time to time above the level 

 of the bog, and formed more stable ground, on 

 which there was frequently a scrubby growth of 

 birch, aspen and several species of willow. On the 

 mountains at the back of the town there were several 

 rock-basins which had evidently at one time con- 



tained small mountain tarns, but which had become 

 filled up by the growth of peat. Both here and else- 

 where in Arctic Norway I was surprised to find that 

 the species oi Sphagnum did not appear to play so im- 

 portant a part in the growth of the peat as I had 

 expected. Several species occurred in nearly all 

 the bogs, but generall)' they did not form so large a 

 proportion of the vegetation as they do in our 

 English bogs. Various species of Salix and 

 Vaccinium and Rubies chamceDiorus, with other smaller 

 plants, appeared to very largely form the peat. 



Leaving Bodo, we called the next day at Harstad, 

 a picturesque little town, with white houses and 

 green meadows down to the water's edge. Many 

 interesting mosses were gathered in some marshy 

 openings in a birch wood close to the town, but 

 there was no time for much work as the ship left 

 again at 1.30 p.m. The neighbourhood of Harstad 

 was well wooded, and I was very much struck by 

 the fact that the trunks of the trees were entirely 

 destitute of mosses. Rotten stumps harboured 

 their peculiar species, but there were none on the 

 living trunks. In the south of Norway, on the 

 contrary, the trunks of trees were frequently 

 thickly clothed with mosses, especially with various 

 species of Ulota and Orthotrichttm . Possibly the 

 lower temperature and keen winds might account 

 for their absence from this habitat in the north, as 

 in all other situations they would be thickly covered 

 with snow during the winter. 



After leaving Harstad we did not touch anywhere 

 until we reached Vadsu, at midnight on the 2nd 

 August. The scenery in northern Norway, after 

 passing Hammerfest, is stern and desolate through- 

 out ; but on rounding the North Cape it became 

 still more inhospitable. The sombre, precipitous 

 cliffs, tinged only at sunset with a warmer hue, gave 

 place to the low, featureless shore on either side of 

 the broad mouth of the Tana river, across which, 

 when we passed, there hung a heavy veil of fog. 

 The same scenery is continued along the northern 

 shore of the Varanger Fiord, and very desolate the 

 dreary little town of Vadso looked, thinly scattered 

 along the margin of a narrow inlet. Although the 

 surroundings of Vadso did not look promising for 

 botanical work, yet they proved to be fairly good 

 on a closer acquaintance. To the west of the town, 

 and parallel with the shore, are several tiers of 

 raised beaches, which attracted the attention of the 

 geologists on board and proved to be very good for 

 the plants requiring a dry situation. Here it was 

 that the curious and interesting Diapensia lapponica, 

 L., was most abundant. A stream had cut through 

 the raised beaches, providing an excellent section 



