NORTHERN LIMITS OF TREES. 



449 



lected on the Island of Anticosti and coast of Labrador 

 in i860. While the plants of the Gulf coast are a mix- 

 ture of arctic, subarctic and Alpine floras with that of 

 the northern Canadian shores of the St. Lawrence River, 

 those of northern Labrador are naturally more purely 

 arctic. 



The extreme northern point touched by an observer 

 of plant life in Fort Chimo. In the introduction to 

 his list of birds of Labrador * Mr. Turner thus refers to 

 the vegetation : — " The limit of trees ceases only 10 

 miles north of Fort Chimo. The principal trees are 

 species of Abies, Larix, Betula, Populus, Alnus, Salix, 

 and Juniperus. The more common flowering plants are 

 Anemone, Ranunculus, Draba, Viola, Arenaria, Stellaria,. 

 Lathyrus, Potentilla, Rubus, Ribes, Saxifraga, Epilo- 

 bium, Heracleum, Taraxacurn, Vaccinium, Kalmia, 

 Rhododendron, Ledum, Pinguicula, Gentiana, Empe- 

 trum, Habenaria, Iris, and Smilacina. Of sedges and 

 grasses, J uncus, Scirpus, Eriophorum, Carex, Poa, Ely- 

 mus, and Aira are the more common." Dr. Robert 

 Bell collected plants on the northern coasts, which were 

 identified by Prof. Macoun, and are embraced in the 

 list given beyond. 



Dr. Kochf thus writes regarding the forests and vege- 

 tation at Nain, a point not far from the northern limit 

 of trees : " The northernmost valleys in which firs grow 

 open into Napartok Ba)^ North of Napartok Bay J 

 (Napartok means fir) [more properly spruce] are found 

 only dwarf willows and birches ; mosses and lichens form 



*Proc. U. S. Nat. Miis. viil. Nos. 15, 16, 1885. 



f Deutsche Geographische Blatter, Bremen, 1884. 



J Napartok Bay is just south of the 58th parallel of latitude. 



