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PACIFIC SCIENCE, VoL XVIII, April 1964 
on the Island Group. Mosses and lichens which 
are important in many tundra areas are of minor 
importance on western Kodiak Island, but east- 
ward mosses form a prominent ground cover 
under the spruce forest. 
Although the Kodiak tundra-like area has 
many affinities with the more northern tundras, 
it should not be considered a true tundra. As is 
characteristic of many northern vegetation types, 
it is not the species present that are characteris- 
tic but the relative abundance of each. Griggs 
( 193 4b, 193 6) discussed this problem in regard 
to the Katmai district of the Alaska Peninsula. 
Kodiak Island is the only place in North 
America where the Arctic Zone is not bordered 
on the south by the boreal forest. In this area 
arctic or quasi-arctic vegetation makes direct 
contact with the temperate coastal forest. 
THE FLORA AND ITS RELATIONSHIP TO 
OTHER REGIONS 
Hulten recorded 377 species of vascular plants 
from the Kodiak Island Group. Of these same 
plants 329 are also found in southeastern Alaska; 
314 in the Kenai-Cook Inlet area; 311 in the 
Alaska Peninsula; 243 in the Aleutians; and 266 
in interior Alaska (Fig. 2). These total figures 
strongly indicate that all sections of Alaska have 
contributed to the flora of Kodiak. Of the total 
Kodiak flora, 156 species are found in all of the 
five designated subregions; and 132 more species 
are in all of Alaska except one subregion. As 
with most northern floras (Porsild [1951] stated 
that one-third of the North American arctic 
plants are circumpolar), that of Kodiak is domi- 
nated by holarctic or at least neoarctic species. 
The sharpest break in the flora is with the 
Aleutians; 62 species which are found on Kodiak 
Island are also in all Alaska except the Aleutians. 
Phytogeographically, much of the Aleutians be- 
longs to Kamtchatka (Hulten, I960), but the 
remainder of Alaska is North American. 
Following the previous division, the Alaska 
distribution of the Kodiak flora can be grouped 
into eight types of distributions. These are listed 
along with a few representative examples. 
1. Throughout all Alaska (156 species): 
Equisetum arvense L., Loiselemia procumbens 
( L. ) Desv., Oxyria digyna ( L. ) Hill, Empetrum 
nigrum L., Saxifraga oppositifolia L. 
2. All Alaska except Kenai-Cook Inlet (13 
species ) : Agrostis borealis Hartm., Carex stylosa 
C. A. Mey., Ranunculus repens L. 
3. All Alaska except Aleutians (62 species) : 
Thalictrum sparsiflorum Turcz., Andromeda 
polifolia L., Sambucus racemosa L. 
4. All Alaska except Southeastern (15 spe- 
cies ) : Lagotis glauca Gaertn., Saxifraga bracte- 
ata D. Don., Phyllodoce aleutica (Spreng.) A. 
Heller. 
5. All coastal areas of Alaska (42 species): 
Puccinellia nutkaensis (Presl.) Fern and Weath., 
Rubus spectabilis Pursh., Poa stenantha Trin. 
6. Only in Kodiak and regions eastward ( 50 
species ) : Lysichitum americanum Hult. and St. 
J., ] uncus oregonus S. Wats., Spergularia cana- 
densis (Pers.) G. Don. 
7. Only in Kodiak and regions northward 
( 1 3 species) : J uncus triglumis L., Rumex arcticus 
Trautv., Cicuta mackenzieana Raup. 
8. Only in Kodiak and regions westward (13 
species): Plagiobothrys orientalis (L.) Johnst., 
Taraxacum trigonolubium Dahlst., Euphrasia 
mollis (Ledeb.) Wettst. 
If we examine the latter three of the above 
groups ( the others have too wide a distribution 
to denote an affinity pattern), further indication 
may be apparent as to the relationship of the 
flora of Kodiak Island to the remainder of 
Alaska. 
There are three general directions from which 
plants could reach the Kodiak Island Group: 
( 1 ) from the west via the Aleutians and through 
the Alaska Peninsula, (2) from the northern 
interior by way of the Alaska Peninsula and the 
Kenai Peninsula, and (3) from the southeast 
out of southern Alaska, again by way of the 
Kenai Peninsula and the Alaska Peninsula. 
Ocean currents could also be a factor, as the 
Gulf of Alaska Current runs in an arcuate path 
from southeastern Alaska past Kodiak Island 
(Fig. 3). 
Of the species whose ranges in Alaska are 
applicable, 50 came from the east and 13 each 
from the north and west. The diversity of pos- 
sible elements from the southeast should not be 
overlooked. There are montane, coastal, boreal, 
and some arctic elements available from this 
direction. 
Seven species are listed by Hulten with an 
Alaskan range of only Kodiak Island. This ap- 
parent endemism is probably due to a lack of 
data, for Anderson (1959) listed several of 
