Greinar (Vísindafélag Íslendinga) - 01.01.1935, Page 64

62
trees. On the whole the trees have more than one trunk,
they are crooked and more or less prostrate, stunted by
grazing sheep and perhaps heavy snow in the glens. Yet
there are in many places handsome annual shoots, the
tallest annual shoot I measured was 25 cm, but when
winter comes it does not take the sheep long to dispose
of them. In most places the copse is so dense, that it is
difficult and slow to pass through. On the border of the
copsewood it is thinner. There are scattered small
shrubs, frequently with long intervals. These shrubs are
sometimes of rather larger size 2—3 m in diameter.
They are round-topped so that the outermost branches
lie close to the ground, but rise gradually higher near
the centre, but they very seldom reach a height greater
than 14 to % m.
In the clusters of wood themselv.es, there are no re-
markable glades. The forestsward vegetation is on the
whole very flourishing, and all taller plants stretch as
high as the low copse. All the sward is covered by vege-
tation, although it ,is indeed scattered where the copse-
wood is thickest and with the character of shadow-
plants.
' Now I shall proceed to give further particulars of the
circlings I made. The circling method is that of Chr.
Raunkiær.
Table I.
The Forestsward vegetation at HlíS.
The localities 1—3 represent the forest-undergrowth, 4—5 the
grassy-slope vegetation, 6 the swamp vegetation. The localities lie
at an altitude of ab. 170 14th 1931. (10 Vio m2> m above
Anthoxanthum odoratum H E3
Galium verum H E1
Polygonum viviparum .. G A3
Agrostis canina H E3
Agrostis tenuis H E2
Festuca rubra H E4
sea level. AU examined on Aug.
1 2 3 4 5 6
100 80 100 10 20
80 80 100 90 100 20
70 30 30 100 20 100
40 20 20 100 90 70
70 90 100 — 100 —
100 40 — 20 — 30