142 
ROLF NORDHAGEN. 
Summary of the contents. 
In June 1916 Ranunculus Cymbalaria Pursh. was found 
by the author and conservator 0. Dahl on Asm al, one of the 
islands in the Hvaler group, which is situated in the south — 
eastern part of Norway, at the mouth of the Kristianiafiord. The 
plant has never been found in Europe hefore. It is distributed 
over great parts of North America (cfr. p. 8) and central Asia, 
and also occurs in the extratropical South America. On page 2 
a description of the plant is given, taken from Britton 8c Brown 
op. cit. 
The species was found in hundreds of individuals on a flat, 
wet shore overwashed by spring tide, in a characteristic halofile 
association (consisting of Glyceria maritima , Juncus Gerctrdi, 
Glaux maritima, Triglocliin maritimum , and Plantago mari- 
tima). The plant surely has grown on the island during a lon- 
ger period, as it was also observed in another place several 
100 meti *es distant of the first locality. 
Ranunculus Cymbalaria prefers saline soil all over the 
world (cfr. Novopokrovskij, Martjanow, Kurz, Dudley, Britton 
8c Brown op. cit.), and is nearly everywhere followed by Glaux, 
Triglocliin and Plantago, hoth in America and Asia. 
The occurrence of Ranunculus Cymbalaria in Norway is 
very isolated and rather difficult to explain from a phytogeo- 
graphical point of view. The European flora contains however 
a small group of similar plants, viz. the American species in 
I r el a n d, on Skye, C o 1 1 etc. ( Eriocaulon septangulare, Spi- 
ranthes Romamowiana, Sisyrinchium angustif otium, Pota- 
mogeton species). Kalmia augustifolia which recently is found 
in Hannover, may perhaps belong to the same group. Both 
Kalmia and Sisyrinchium are however cultivated in many 
European gardens (Sisyrinchium has spread from old parks 
