Page:Polar Exploration - Bruce - 1911.djvu/102

98 acaulis), several potentillas (P. nivea, P. pulchella, and others), the blaeberry (Empetrum nigrum), many saxifrages, notably Saxifraga cernua, S. cæspitosa, S. Hirculus, the rock rose (Dryas octopetala), the cotton grass (Eriophorum), and last, but not of least importance, the Arctic willow (Salix polaris and S. herbacea), which often covers acres of ground. Neither must we forget the great host of grasses and sedges. Few of these plants are endemic to Arctic Regions; they often develop characteristic forms or varieties, but most of the species are found also in northern Europe, Asia, and America. Further south they appear at higher altitudes. A few we find on the hilltops of Scotland. There are two ferns in Spitsbergen and a few more in other Arctic lands, but the Arctic Regions are not favourable to fern growth. Of mosses and hepatics there are many different species, most of which thrive exceedingly well, and the same may be said of lichens. Fungi are also quite common, especially puff-balls, with their "Deadman's snuff." One common feature that Arctic and Antarctic mosses and lichens exhibit is the infrequency of any reproduction except by purely vegetative means; by growth, in fact, continuous or discontinuous, for as a rule they are barren: "fruits" in a state of maturity are comparatively rare.