The Botany of Iceland - 01.12.1945, Page 78

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STEINDÓR STEINDÓRSSON .
several other authors is, no doubt, to a great extent a snow-patch vege-
tation. It will be evident from what has been stated here that the snow-
patch vegetation is not treated as a separate formation in these papers,
but has been referred to other formations.
The first author who erected it as a separate formation was M 01-
holm Hansen who calls the formation “geiri” and defines it as
follows (1930, p. 180) : “Thegeirivegetationis confined to
soil with a constant and deep snow-covering from early autumn to
late spring. The surface is always level, without knolls. The vegetation
consists principally of southern plants, notably those requiring the
highest temperature, which are found in greatest quantity here. The
dominant life-form is H, of less importance are Gh and especially G.
Both the number and density of species are relatively high, though less
than in the mó.” This fully agrees with my conception of the snow-
patch; I assume, however, that the G percentage is generally somewhat
higher than would appear from Molholm Hansen’s definition.
As in my paper on the Melrakkasljetta I prefer the name snow-
patch (Icelandic snjódæld) for the geiri used by Molholm Hansen, for
according to the Icelandic usage the latter name gives no information
at all about the conditions of the terrain; a “geiri” is a strip of land,
often wedge-shaped, on a mountain side, but it need neither be a de-
pression nor have a more persistent snow-covering than other localities.
Snjódæld or snow-patch, however, expresses the main character of the
locality.
I here use the name snow-patch in the same sense in which it is
used in the Scandinavian languages (cf. the German “Schneeboden”).
I shall now briefly describe the shape of the snow-patches. They
are often found as ravines or grooves on steep mountain sides. The
Fig. 5. S, Snow-patch;
SF, Solifluction wall.