The Botany of Iceland - 01.12.1945, Blaðsíða 14

356
STEINDÓR STEINDÓRSSON
a study of the geology and geography of the country, he made numerous
observations on the vegetation, especially in the highland. His travelling
reports (Ferðabók I-IV) contain descriptions of the vegetation of a
number of highland localities. These descriptions, it is true, are often
very superficial, still they supply information of great value, notably
because Thoroddsen travelled through many places which have never
since been visited. In his paper “The Physical Geography of Iceland”
(Botany of Iceland I, 2, Copenhagen 1914) he takes a survey of the
vegetation of Iceland based on his own and other investigations. The
definitions of the various communities found there have mostly been
taken from the works of Stefánsson and Helgi Jónsson; however, in
several places Thoroddsen points out the difference between uniform
formations in the lowland and the highland. In addition he attempts
to fix the maximum and minimum heights above the sea of the dif-
ferent species, but arrives at the result that “A considerable number of
lowland species have an upper limit on mountains and plateau, but
this has not as yet been thoroughly investigated. On the other hand,
very few highland plants have a lower limit; the majority of the plants
which grow near the snow-line thrive just as well in the neighbourhood
of the sea” (l.c. p. 303). Thoroddsen also gives flora lists from various
mountain peaks and other localities in the central highland. These as
well as the aforementioned descriptions of the vegetation constitute a
very valuable material especially for our knowledge of the vertical
distribution of the plants.
Helgi Jónsson’s many papers on the vegetation of Iceland
supply comparatively scant information about the highland vegetation.
The reason is that this author did not visit the highland very much
except the mountains near the inhabited districts. Jónsson defines most
of the plant formations found in Iceland, but it is almost exclusively
the occurrence of the formations in the lowland which is taken into
account in these definitions. In a few places, however, he describes the
highland vegetation, for instance in the paper entitled “Studier over
Öst-Islands Vegetation” (Kbhvn. 1895) ; of highland formations he
describes here the dwarf willow vegetation (l.c. p. 42) and the fell-field
(l.c. p. 74). In his paper “Vegetationen paa Snæfellsnes” (Kbhvn.
1900) he discusses the fell-field in more detail, dividing it into gravel
flats, screes, Anthelia-crust, Salix herbacea vegetation and Sibbaldia
vegetation. He also draws a comparison between the vegetation of the
fell-field and that of other plant communities.
In his dissertation “Studies on the Vegetation of Iceland” (Kbhvn.