abundance of specimens is comparatively great The ground in
the forests is always carpeted thickly with green.
Generally it is the leafy mosses that form the carpeting
(Hypnum splendens, Schreberi and triquetrum), but in the moss
there is always a small number of phanerogamous plants, which
appear in great quantities. The bilberry (.Myrtillus nigra), for
instance, is a characteristic plant in the spruce woods; the whortleberry
(Vacemium, vitis idcea) is found most frequently in rather
open, dry spots, where the pine predominates. Of these two kinds
of berry, the Norwegian woods produce an enormous- quantity
every year, most of which is left untouched, as it does not pay
to gather it on account of the expense of labour and inadequate
means of communication.
Among the wood plants we may name the pretty, fragrant
Linncea borealis, which is found in great quantities, and different
species of Pyrola, with their evergreen leaves. The large brake fern
(Pteris aquilina) is especially conspicuous, and some few species of
Lyeopodium.
In dry places where the soil is shallow, the woods are more
open. Here juniper (Juniperus- communis), ling (Calluna vulgaris)
and black crowberry (Empetrum nigrum) are most abundant.
These little shrubs are among the most easily contented plants in
our flora, and have, therefore, a wide distribution over the whole
country, from sea-level to high up on the mountains.
The species of lichen also form an essential part of the vegetation.
The reindeer moss (Cladonia rangiferina) is found all over
the woods, especially on large stones or rocks; on dry soil in the
pine woods, it sometimes quite gains the upper hand, and covers
the ground with a light grey carpet. There are also many other
species, both on stones and trees. The species of TJsnea- (U. bar-
bata, U. longissima) are particurlarly conspicuous, covering the
branches of the spruces with long grey tresses.
Here and there in the forests there are bogs in which the
conifers cannot grow. Here the low growth is generally composed
of Sphagnum, and on the mounds grow sedges (Garex), ling (Calluna
vulgaris), bilberry (Myrtillm nigra) and blaeberry (M. uligi-
nosa). Here too are great quantities of cloud-berries (Pubus JOhamce-
morus) with their pretty and palatable, orange-coloured fruit.
The undergrowth of the forest is somewhat more luxuriant
by deep water-courses, and on steep slopes covered with rich soil,
especially when the slope faces the south. The deciduous trees
are here abundantly represented as well as the conifers, and on
the hills are numerous herbaceous perennial plants, which sometimes
grow to the height of a man. The fronds of ferns such as
Struthopteris germánica, Asplenium fdix femina, Polystichum Jilix
mas and spinuloswn, form large, light green patches, while among
them is found Campanula latifolia, with its long spikes of large,
pale blue bells, and many other tall flowering plants with large
green leaves (Aconitum septentrionale, Mulgedium alpinum and Cre-
pis paludosa).
A few tall forest grasses with large flat leaves (Milium effusum,
Festuca silvática, Calamagrostis) are also characteristic plants in
these luxuriant slopes, where the perennial plants grow so tall in the
summer that it is often difficult to make one’s way through
them.
Above the limit of the conifers (about 2600 feet), there is a
region where the birch (Betula odorata) is the only forest tree,
though rowan-tree and bird-cherry are sometimes found here and
there among them. The birch zone reaches to 3000 or 3500 feet
above the sea. Its vegetation 'gives a richer impression than that
of the conifer forests, for the birches stand farther apart, and
allow more light to penetrate to the ground, than do the conifers.
On the warmest slopes, vegetation may be very luxuriant. We
here find, to some extent, some of the plants that grow lower
down, e. g. Aconitum septentrionale, Geranium ..silvaticum ; but on
the other hand, the true mountain plants now begin to assert
themselves. The plants characteristic of the birch slopes are the
tall white ranunculus (Panunculus aconitifolius)) and the large-
flowered forget-me-not (Myosotis silvática).
Above the birch limit, two zones of vegetation may still be
■distinguished, viz. the willow zone and the lichen zone.
In the willow zone there are no trees, but frequently a dense
growth of bushes scarcely as high as a man. I t is the dwarf
■birch (Betula nana) and species of willow (Salix glauca, landta,
hastata, lapponum, phylicifolia) that give to the vegetation here its
character In the first three species of Salix named, the leaves
are grey and hairy, while the last two. have smooth, dark green
leaves.
In the lichen zone, the reindeer moss (Cladonia rangiferina)
pre ominates, what bushes there are, are creeping specimens, which