28 Holm, The genus Carex in North-West America, 
The number of species of our North-West American Carices, 
that occur in the old world, aggregates about 58, 20 of which are 
Vigneae and 38 Ccirices genuinae, — 13 of these are circumpolar: 
C. canescens, glareosa, lagopina, incurva, ustulata^ rigida, aquatilis. 
suhspatliacea, rariflora, rupestris, misandra, vaginata and pulla. 
By comparing the Scandinavian element we find 44 species re- 
presented in this region, 15 Vigneae and 29 Car. genuinae, and 
we have only recorded the species from Arctic Scandinavia, ex- 
cluding the Southern portions of Norway and Sweden from where 
several of the other species are known, for instance C. tenella, 
tenuiflora, teretiuscula etc. 
It is, on the other hand, remarkable to note that only 
30 species extend to Greenland, and that these are reall}^ Scan¬ 
dinavian types whith the exception of: C. gynocrates, pn'atensis, 
festiva, stylosa and scirpoidea. Of the 27 species which our region 
has in common with Iceland, C. festiva and scirpoidea are the 
only ones, which are of American origin, even though they both 
have been recorded from a few stations in Arctic Scandinavia. 
In other words the American element which is represented in 
Greenland, Iceland and Scandinavia is very small and none of these 
species have found their way South to the Faeroe islands. Great 
Britain or the Alps of Switzerland. — The number of American 
Carices which have become distributed over the coast of Eastern 
Asia is, also, very small, and the following species may be 
mentioned: C. macrocephala, Gmelini, macrochaeta, Mertensn, 
Sitchensis, melanocarpa, scirpoidea and WilUamsii. 
If we now examine the Gare^c-vegetation of the British Isles, 
we notice that these have 25 species in common with North¬ 
west America, and 9 of these are circumpolar, but we do not 
meet with any species here, which may be considered as American. 
In the Alps and Pyrenees there are 27 species which, also, inhabit 
our region, and 7 of these are circumpolar. It is an interesting 
fact that with the only exception of C. foetida and pyrenaica, all 
the species from Great Britain and the Alps, which occur in North¬ 
west America, are Scandinavian, and several are arctic. 
Let US at the same time extend our comparison to the Rocky 
IMountains of Colorado, which we have treated in a previously 
published paper^), From this we will see that Colorado has 63 species 
in common with our region, 6 are circumpolar, while 21 are 
Scandinavian. Of the 12 species which our region has in common 
with Himalaya, C. canescens, incurva, ustulata and rigida are circum¬ 
polar; the others are mostly lowland species and widely dispersed 
throughout the northern hemisphere. 
Characteristic of the Gare^c-vegetation in North-West America 
is thus: the development of a relatively large number of types, 
the presence of certain American species but more properly per- 
taining to other regions of our continent, and finally the presence 
of species known from the old w'orld, prominent among which are 
circumpolar, arctic and northern forms. 
9 Am. journ. ot sc. Vol. 16. 1903. p. 38, 
