Beach Vegetation 21c¢ 
__ The water collections contained many green filamantous alge, and the usual 
lichens covered the upper surface of driftwood, stones, etc. 
From the above it will be seen that the majority of the plants found are 
species typical of the beach region, while a few of them are species belonging 
to the tundra region which have spread over from the mainland nearby—the 
ao point islands are only about half as far from the mainland as the Spy 
slands. 
Icy reef. Icy reef, about Long. 142°W., is the most eastern and longest of 
a chain of sandy gravel islands stretching from point Humphreys in the west to 
Demarcation bay in the east. While the ocean side is mainly a straight, barren 
gravel beach, the south side facing the Beaufort lagoon has marshes around its 
many bights with the vegetation often continued out into Beaufort lagoon. 
Icy reef is one of the broadest islands on the coast and rises about a dozen feet 
above sea level. Its gravelly places are more extensive and are composed of 
bigger stone fragments than are found on most of the other islands. Much 
driftwood is scattered everywhere and sometimes it fills up the bights on the 
south side completely. At various places are found lagoon ponds and water 
holes, mostly dried up in August, and on the higher places are found old Eskimo 
log shacks, mostly in ruins. Around the latter the plentiful refuse has made 
the otherwise poor, sandy soil rather fertile and has enabled the vegetation to 
develop very luxuriantly. 
On August 3rd, 1914, I observed the same plants as had been found on the 
Martin point islands. In addition there were collected, on dry, sandy gravel, 
Salix niphoclada, only one plant; Alopecurus alpinus, in patches; Arctagrostis 
latifolia, in more sandy places; Draba nivalis and Sazxifraga oppositifolia, a few 
scattered plants; Lychnis apetala; Papaver nudicaule, many big plants in pillows 
half a foot in diameter and with flowers up to six inches from the ground, especi- 
ally around the shacks; E'pilobiwm latifolium, etc. In heavy, otherwise com- 
pletely barren gravel, half a dozen scattered specimens of Crepis nana were 
found, hardly protruding from between the stones. The luxuriant vegetation 
around the log shacks consisted of Festuca ovina, Poa arctica, Saxifraga hiera- 
ciifolia, S. cernua, Polemonium boreale, Androsace Chamaejasme, the latter inter- 
woven with grasses. 
It will thus be seen that, besides all the plants found on the Martin point 
islands, Icy reef has a vegetation composed of quite a few additional species, 
introduced from the mainland tundra. 
It is interesting to compare the vegetation of the three islands, or rather 
groups of islands, described above. Farthest west and north there are the very 
barren and low Spy islands with only half a dozen species of very scattered 
flowering plants. Next come the Martin point islands, with about a dozen 
species of flowering plants in addition, and with the vegetation much better 
developed generally. Farthest east and south, finally, is Icy reef island, with 
about a dozen more species than at Martin point, and in places with a very 
luxuriant vegetation. I ascribe these differences to several factors, viz.: (1), 
the different distance from the mainland, (2) different latitude, (3) different: 
distance from the Mackenzie river, (4) minor differences in the character of the 
soil, (5) different extension in east and west of the different islands, (6) difference 
in the number of visitors, particularly birds and man. 
Mainland Beach Vegetation 
The beach proper. In describing the vegetation of the beach region of the 
mainland it should be remembered that my observations at a favourable time 
of the year, June to August, were limited to the Camden bay region. As, how- 
ever, this locality is about half way between point Barrow and Mackenzie 
delta, it may be assumed that the vegetation at Camden bay is of the same 
general character as along the whole coast, allowing for minor differences caused 
