Rit (Vísindafélag Íslendinga) - 01.06.1975, Blaðsíða 69

wet that the surface is almost completely submerged. The spe-
cies there are quite numerous but none is particularly conspicuous
except for the two character species, which are similar in abun-
dance, but C. saxatihs is more noticeable in physiognomy. Otlier-
wise no more will be said about this sociation, since there are no
taore observations at hand, but it may be asserted that it is not
common, and it only occurs in small patches.
B. Mýri — Sloping mire
Dejinition. The second main division of Icelandic mires is the
mýri (sloping mire) as I call the wet terrain which is merely wet
enough to ensure that the groimd water never rises above the sur-
íace, or if it does occur at all, it lasts only for a very short time.
The surface of the mýri is as a rule more or less mound pattemed,
and the mounds consist often largely of moss. The mýri mounds
are ahnost never coarse but frequently dense. As a rule the sur-
face of the mýri is sloping, so that the ground-water is not fully
stagnant in the soil. The mýri vegetation is richer in species than
that of the flói, and it always forms a continuous carpet. Mosses
are also more colorful and more conspicuous than in the flói. Main
lifeforms are the geophytes, but the biological spectrum is quite
changeable.
The mýri is described in various older works, and this definition
tnay be regarded as being in complete accord with them, since they
were consulted. (cf. Steindórsson 1945, p. 391). However, it should
be noted that H. Molholm Hansen refers to this vegetation as a
sloping mire.
Distribution. The mýri is the most widely distributed and most
extensive division of mires throughout the country. It extends from
the shoreline, resulting frequently in vague borderhnes between
it and shore vegetation, unto the utmost upper limits of continuous
vegetative cover. In many areas of the lowland the mýri consti-
tutes the main vegetation type throughout entire districts e.g. in
Vestur-Húnavatnssýsla, in some of the valleys in Barðastranda-
sýsla, Kræklingahlíð in Eyjafjörður, in many locahties in the east-
ern part of the country and in upper regions of Ámessýsla, to give
69