88 B Canadian Arctic Expedition, 1913-18 



Fig. 3. Grove of white spruce {P'icea canadensis) southeast of Sandstone rapid, Coppermine river. The 

 most northern dense grove in this region, a thick stand being found only where protected from 

 sweeping winds and witii good exposure to the sun. February 15, 1915. (Photo by R. M. Anderson.) 



With respect to the general distribution of Picea canadensis, Sargent ^ 

 gives this as follows: "The White Spruce inhabits the banks of streams and lakes 

 and the borders of swamps, in rich moist alluvial soil, ocean cliffs, and less 

 commonly at the north rocky slopes of low hills; it ranges from the shores of 

 Ungava bay in Labrador westward to those of Hudson bay, and from the mouth 

 of Seal river not far to the north of Cape Churchill, it is scattered along the 

 northern frontier of the forest nearly to the shores of the Arctic Sea, and, crossing 

 the continental divide, reaches Bering Strait in 66° 44' north latitude. South- 

 ward it extends down the Atlantic coast to southern Maine, growing often close 

 to the shore, and to northern New Hampshire, Vermont, New York, Northern 

 Michigan and Minnesota and the Black Hills of Dakota, and through the 

 interior of Alaska and along the Rocky Mountains to northern Montana." 



The accompanying photographs were taken by Dr. Anderson and Mr. 

 Johansen and give an excellent idea of the growth of the spruce in the far north. 



Among the 20 species of Gramineae, enumerated on the geographical 

 table (Table 1), ten are circumpolar: Hierochloe alpina, Alopecurus, Arctagrostis, 

 Trisetum, Catabrosa, Poa arctica, Dupontia, Festuca ovina and F. rubra, and 

 finally Arctophila. With the exception of Dupontia, Arctophila, and Catabrosa, all 

 the others have also been reported from the Altai mountains; Trisetum, Poa arctica, 

 and the two species of Festuca are known also from the Himalayas. With regard 

 to their occxirrence in the Alps and Pyrenees, only Trisetum and the two species 

 of Festuca have been reported from these mountains. In the Rocky mountains 

 south of the arctic region we have only four of these represented, namely, 

 Trisetum, Catabrosa, Poa, and Festuca ovina; this seems somewhat peculiar 

 since they all have been found on the American coast of Bering strait, and with 

 the only exception of Dupontia and Alopecurus, they have also been reported 

 from the Asiatic coast. However, Dupontia, Arctophila, and Arctagrostis are 

 almost exclusively confined to the arctic regions, and the presence of Arcta- 

 grostis in the Altai mountains may indicate that the genus reached these 

 mountains during the glacial epoch and remained there. Besides these circum- 

 polar species, all of which undoubtedly originated in the arctic regions, the fol- 

 lowing may also have had their centre located in the north, viz. : Hierochloe pauci- 

 flora, Calamagrdstis, Elymus, Poa glauca, P. abbreviata, and the species of Glyceria. 



> The Silva of North America, Vol. XII. Boston, 1898. 



