300 DB. LINDSAY ON THE LICHEN-FLORA OF GREENLAND. 



contained in the Kew Herbarium. I have little doubt that they 

 refer mainlj, if not exclusively, to the Spitzbergen group of islets 

 mentioned on page 285. 



Tuckerman, in his " Synopsis," enumerates as Melville Island 

 Lichens, following Brown's determination of Parry's collections — 



Usnea melaxantha (sub nom. Stereocaulon paschale. 

 sphacelata.) Parmelia stygia. 



Cladonia pyxidata. Placodium elegans. 



Cetraria odontella. 



Even to this very meagre list difficulties relating to synonymy — 

 similar to those already pointed out under the head of the Spitz- 

 bergen collections of the same distinguished navigator, and the 

 determinations of the same celebrated " Botanicorum Princeps " — 

 attach themselves. Thus Stereocaulon paschale may be really, as 

 in the Spitzbergen plant, tomentosum. I have elsewhere seen it 

 recorded that *S'. corallinum^ Fr., occurs both in Melville Island 

 and Ross's Islet, as well *as in the "barren lands" of Arctic 

 America. This Lichen may be *S'. coralloides^ Fr. ; but in the 

 " jL. Arctoi " (p. 142), it is given as not distributed more to the 

 north than Lapland and Nordland. Equally probably it is 

 tomentosum ; or, according to my own A^iew, it and all the Arctic 

 forms of Stereocaulon are referable, as mere conditions, to the 

 type S. paschale. 



The whole list of Melville Island Lichens contains the in- 

 significant number of twelve species, while there is no reason to 

 doubt the Lichen-flora of the Arctic-American Islands must be as 

 rich, at least, as that of Spitzbergen. 



Though by no means to equal extent, the Lichen-flora of Ice- 

 land is, as I have elsewhere * shown, very defective, amounting 

 only to 147 species and varieties. It does not, therefore, any 

 more than the Lichen-flora of Arctic America or the Arctic- 

 American Islands, aff'ord data for comparative generalisations in 

 regard to the Lichens of Greenland, and the countries or islands 

 in similar latitudes east and west of it in Europe or America. 



Most singularly, there is no record of any Economical Applica- 

 tions of Lichens in Greenland,! while there is no scarcity of 

 evidence regarding the uses to which they are applied in Arctic 

 America, Iceland, and Scandinavia : — (1.) As food for wild or 

 domesticated animals ; (2.) As food for man ; (3.) As medicines ; 

 or (4.) As dye-stuff's. Dr. Brown assures me, in more than one of 

 his letters, that Lichens are absolutely unapplied to any useful 

 purpose by the Greenlanders or by the native animals of Green- 

 land. " I really believe," he says, " there are no economic uses 

 " for Lichens in Greenland. ... I made inquiries of all the 

 " Danish officials, and ... I have re-examined Rink's ' Gron- 

 " ' land geographisk og statistik' for any reference, and can 



* " Northern Lichen-Flora," pp. 393-4; vide also p. 289 of present Memou-. 

 t Parallel instances of non-use of Lichens in countries in which useful 

 species abound are given in my ''Northern Lichen-Flora," p. 415. 



