Greinar (Vísindafélag Íslendinga) - 01.01.1935, Qupperneq 70

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good an agreement in the lifeforms, that they give no
ground for observation. In order to compare them more
fully it should be noted that the height above sea level
near Hlíð is about 150 metres, which is about the height
of circling 3 at Ásólfsstaðir but somewhat lower than
the other circlings there. It is also much higher than
Norðtunga, as according to Thoroddsen the farm there
is 64 metres above sea level.
OTHER OBSERVATIONS ON THE VEGETATION.
Because of the short time I had at my disposal at
Skaftártunga I could not come to any general conclu-
sions about the vegetation of the district. Nevertheless
I will add here some observations which are also appli-
cable to the neighbourhood of Hlíð.
The most prominent and extensive type of growth
in Skaftártunga is grassland. There are some bogs in
the hollows but they are not nearly as extensive as the
dry meadowland. The bogs which I saw were of the
”hallamýri“ type with Equisetum palustre and Carex
Goodenoughii-associations. In some places they were
nearer to the Graminæ-bog and edge type.
The dry grassland, slopes and grassy plains are all
dry meadowland of the type which Dr. Helgi Jónsson
calls Græsli (Ií. J., 1905). But this dry meadowland is
interspersed where it is driest and most exposed with
vegetation of the type found in peaty soil. The soil is
deep and loose and has a large admixture of volcanic
ash and pumice. The hollows and ravines which were
mentioned before are devoid of all vegetation, save
brushwood.
In a hasty survey it seemed to me that the dry mead-
owland might be divided into two formations: Agros-
tis-formation, which is purely dry meadowland, and
Elyna-formation, which is intermingled with peat-
growths. Circling 5 gives some idea of the latter and
circling 6 of the former. This however must be care-