Vegetation of the Island of Gothland. 
269 
Another plant very characteristic of the limestone pasture in 
England often occurred, viz., Spircea Filipendula, but only 
in the damper places where the soil was thicker. Scrubby 
bushes of Cotoneaster, Juniperus , etc. were common on this chalky 
pasture, and dwarf pines, also occurred in some numbers. These 
had a rather uniform height of about 4 feet and gave the impression 
in some places that they might have been planted, but it is scarcely 
probable that this was the case and their dwarf size must be 
partially attributed to the dry shallow soil. 
In addition to the plant-associations already mentioned the 
island possesses a number of maritime plants, but these occur chiefly 
on the east coast and I did not see them. I must, however, just 
mention some of the commonest weeds of hedgerows and waste 
places. These are very conspicuous because of their beautiful 
colours, and the most noticeable among them are Cichorium Intybus 
and Echium vulgare. They occur in great abundance in the waste 
places round the city walls at Visby and by the roadsides. The 
Echium has inflorescences often 18 inches or more in height and 
gives rise to masses of blue colour. Other Boraginaceous plants, 
e.g., Anchusa and Cynoglossum are also common. One of the 
most noticeable weeds of cultivated land is Anthemis tinctoria which 
when undisturbed grows in large clumps and bears numbers of 
brilliant golden flowers. The blue Centaurea minor is one of the 
commonest cornfield weeds, and the wild roses of Gothland are 
famous and contribute largely to the beauty of the flora. 
It is hoped that the above will give some idea of the vegetation 
of the Island as it appeared from very brief visits to some few of the 
typical localities. Though there are so many striking points of 
similarity between the vegetation of Gothland and that of England, 
there are doubtless many differences, which may be even greater 
than 1 was led to suppose, because in any hasty comparison the 
resemblances are more obvious than the differences. The absence 
of most deciduous trees is, of course, a very great difference. A 
more careful and detailed comparison by an expert ecologist would 
be very interesting, and it is to be hoped that this will be made 
before the last traces of the Gothland fens disappear. I believe that 
such a comparison would go far to confirm the view that the 
chemical and physical nature of soil is a factor of the greatest 
