Lachesis Lapponica; Or, A Tour in Lapland, Volume 1Linné, Carl von
History
Lachesis Lapponica; Or, A Tour in Lapland, Volume 1
Linné, Carl von
Lapland -- Description and travel; Natural history -- Lapland
In the morning we continued our voyage to Storbacken a mile and half
distant, from whence we were afterwards obliged to walk five miles to
Jockmock. This day indeed we only reached Pajarim[54], where we slept
all night in a smoky hut, ventilated merely by holes in the roof.
I found in the woods the (_Erysimum_) _Barbarea_, with a stem four feet
high, but its leaves were neither so broad, nor so much auricled, as in
the garden plant. Crooked pine trees were to be seen in several places,
the under side of which is always as hard as box-wood, and this part is
used for naves of wheels and the bottoms of sledges. Such wood is called
_kior_.
[54] The author in his _Flora Lapponica, n. 13_, mentions having
found his _Pinguicula villosa_ growing among Bog-moss, _Sphagnum_,
near this place, and in no other. This plant is not noticed in the
manuscript Tour.
LULEAN LAPLAND.
Near Storbacken, at the confluence of the great and small rivers of
Lulea, is the boundary mark between Lapmark and Westbothnia.
As soon as I entered Lapmark, the hill which forms a promontory betwixt
the two rivers afforded me the following plants.
The Sorrel lately mentioned (_Rumex digynus_) was here in blossom. The
calyx is of two leaves; the petals two, perfectly like the calyx.
Stamens six. Pistils two, in the same flower with the stamens, reflexed.
Fruit compressed, with two, not three, angles. Some of its flowers were
infected with smut, as in barley.
The Small Liquorice (_Astragalus alpinus_, see _p_. 159). Some plants
had white flowers, tipped with a blueish hue; the others bore entirely
purple blossoms.
On the hill named Wollerim I met with a very rare little species of
Asphodel, with white flowers in a roundish spike (_Anthericum
calyculatum_, _Sp. Pl. Tofieldia palustris, Engl. Bot. t. 536_). The
leaves are ranged on each other's back (equitant) as in the Marsh
Asphodel (_Narthecium ossifragum, t. 535_). At a small distance in the
marshes I found the small flowering rush of Bauhin, _Juncoidi affinis_
of Scheuchzer, (_Scheuchzeria palustris_). The calyx is of six oblong
sharpish leaves, reflexed and permanent. Petals none. Stamens six,
capillary, very short, pendulous, with upright, very long, obtuse,
compressed _apices_ (anthers). Embryos (germens) three, often four,
rarely five, ovate, compressed. Pistils (styles) none. Stigmas attached
to the outer part of the embryos, not elevated. Capsules of two valves,
with one seed in each capsule. Leaves concave, sheathing the lower part
of the stem.
In the evening I observed Red Currants (_Ribes rubrum_), and a kind of
panicled grass with blue leaves, (perhaps an _Aira_, but it cannot now
be determined).
Here was the black biting spider (_Aranea palustris_), but not the
_littoralis_ (_A. riparia_).
_June 29._
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