PLANTS OF THE KURIL ISLANDS. 243 



approaching storm. During summer an abnormally high barometer for a few days will nearly 

 always be followed by a steady fall, culminating in a gale with heavy rain from southeastward. 



Fogs. — The constant fogs in the vicinity of the Kuril Islands and east coast of Yezo during 

 the summer are no doubt caused by the southerly winds passing first over the warm waters of the 

 Kuro Sliiwo (black stream) and its branch, the Kamchatlva currents, the mean summer temperature 

 of which is 82^, and then on to the cold water of the Oya Shiwo, the temperature of which, along 

 the Kurils, is usually from 35° to 36°. 



These fogs vary in their nature. Sometimes they are dry, in which case they usually extend to 

 a considerable height, and in calm weather will "lift" some 80 or 100 feet or more above the surface 

 of the sea, leaving it perfectly clear below. At otlier times the fogs are dense and full of moisture, 

 amounting almost to a drizzling rain. These often reach to a considerable height, and are generally 

 accompanied by a cloudy sky. * » * 



Ice. — About the 10th of February ice fields begin to make their appearance oif the northwest 

 coasts of the southern Kurils. 



This ice is formed in the northern and northwestern parts of the Sea of Okhotsk, and as it gets 

 broken up is carried by currents and winds across that sea to the islands, where it often blocks tlic 

 coasts and straits for hundreds of miles. The wind has much more to do with the direction these ice 

 fields take than the currents, a moderate breeze being sufficient to drive the floes, even against the 

 Oya Shiwo. 



The surface of these fields of ice is very uneven andhummocky, thus giving the wind considerable 

 hold, the piled-up masses acting as sails. The thickness of this ice usually varies from about 12 to 30 

 feet, the snow upon it is adding considerable to its bulk. 



These ice fields eventually all find their way through the straits into the Pacific, where, after 

 being driven beyond the cold waters of the Oya Shiwo, they are quickly melted. The ice. often fills 

 the space between Yetorup, Kunashir, the eastern coast of Yezo and Shikotan, and sometimes it finds 

 its way down the southeast coast of Yezo, almost as far as Cape Yerimo. During the early part of 

 April, this year (1892), the ice was driven into Kushiro on this coast, wrecking two small steamers 

 which were lying there. In April, 1887, the American whaler Muropa was forced on to the shore of 

 Kunashir by the ice and was lost. By the middle of May, as a rule, the ice has all disappeared. 



PLANTS OF THE KURIL ISLANDS. 



I am not aware that any botanist has published a special treatise upon the plants 

 of the Kuril Islands except Prof. K. Miyabe, whose " Flora of the Kuril Islands" was 

 issued in 1890 by the Boston Society of Natural History (Mem. Boston Soc. Nat. Hist., 

 IV, No. VII, pp. 203-275 + pi. XXII). Nor do I know of any more recent additions 

 to that flora. His list may therefore be taken both as a starting point and as a fair 

 expose of the present knowledge of the plants of the region. 



Miyabe himself visited and collected in Ikotan, Iturup, and Urup, while the records 

 of the species in the northern islands are derived from the collections and publications 

 mostly of Russian botanists. In the entire list there is no reference to a single plant 

 from the Middle Kurils, except in one instance from Matua and two from Ketoi. 

 Under these circumstances it is to be particularly regretted that my opportunity for 

 collecting plants was so limited, and that the season was so far advanced as to render 

 the collection of serviceable specimens very difficult. 



The rocks of Mushir visited by me had only a few species qf plants on them ; these, 

 or most of them, I collected. On Raikoke I was not within reach of the plants. 

 Srednoi Seal Rock was entirely devoid of higher vegetation. Only the Ushishirs 

 offered a richer field for the botatiist, though even in this case limited. Vegetation 

 was here exceedingly luxurious, but the number of species near the beaches, the only 

 portion visited by me, was small. 



Dr. J. N. Rose, of the National Herbarium, has kindly named the few plants I 

 was able to gather tentatively, with the exception of the grasses, which were named by 

 Professor Scribner. The following is the list. The number preceding the species is 



