Flora and Vegetation between 55° and 60° N. in Quebec and Labrador
EA-PS. (Jacques Rousseau)
FLORA AND VEGETATION BETWEEN 55° AND 60° N.
IN QUEBEC AND LABRADOR
CONTENTS
|
|
Page
|
|
Introduction
|
1
|
|
Arctic and Hemiarctic Phanerogamic Flora
|
7
|
|
The Arctic Zone Proper
|
22
|
|
Subdivisions of Arctic Quebec and Labrador
|
23
|
|
The Kogaluk and Payne Regions
|
24
|
|
Sectors of the Kogaluk and Payne Regions
|
34
|
|
Entrance of the Kogaluk and Adjoining Coast
|
35
|
|
The Kogaluk River to Tasiak Lake
|
39
|
|
Height of land between the Kogaluk and Payne rivers
|
47
|
|
Payne River from Source to Estuarine Zone
|
49
|
|
Payne River Estuary
|
52
|
|
The Hemiarctic Zone
|
58
|
|
Subdivisions of the Hemiarctic Zone
|
60
|
|
The George River Region
|
62
|
|
Sectors of the George River in the Hemiarctic Zone
|
65
|
|
Arctic Outposts
|
80
|
|
Phytogeographical Aspects and Glaciation
|
80
|
|
Bibliography
|
83
|
EA-PS. (Jacques Rousseau)
FLORA AND VEGETATION BETWEEN 55° AND 60° N.
IN QUEBEC AND LABRADOR
PHOTOGRAPHIC ILLUSTRATIONS
With the manuscript of this article, the author submitted 26 photographs
for possible use as illustrations. Because of the high cost of reproducing
them as halftones in the printed volume, only a small proportion of the photo–
graphs submitted by contributors to
Encyclopedia Arctica
, can be used, at most
one or two with each paper; in some cases none. The number and selection must
be determined later by the publisher and editors of
Encyclopedia Arctica
. Mean–
time all photographs are being held at The Stefansson Library.
EA-Plant Sciences
(Jacques Rousseau)
FLORA AND VEGETATION BETWEEN 55° AND 60° N.
IN QUEBEC AND LABRADOR
Introduction
The Province of Quebec and the Labrador coast are the regions where the
arctic zone, considered biologically, attains its southernmost limit on land.
These regions belong to two different provinces of Canada; the Labrador coast
to Newfoundland and the rest of the peninsula to the Province of Quebec. The
islands near the peninsula in Hudson Bay, Hudson Strait, and Ungava Bay come
under the jurisdiction of the Northwest Territories. The portion of Quebec
north of approximately 52° N. latitude was formerly known as Ungava; the term
Labrador is often misused by explorers and geographers to include Ungava. In
this arctic Ungava is defined as that part of the Province of Quebec which
lies north of the Eastmain River, and the name Labrador is used only in its
official sense, that is, the coast of the mainland belonging to Newfoundland.
To designate the whole area, Quebec-Labrador Peninsula (81) seems an appro–
priate name.
Previous Studies on the Vegetation of the Labrador Coast
. The first gen–
eral work on the flora of Labrador is a small book of 218 pages entitled
De
plantis labradoricis
, by Meyer, published in 1830 (54). This work contains a
bibliography of former works dealing with the Labrador coast as well as notes
EA-PS. Rousseau: Flora and Vegetation in Quebec and Labrador
on the climate and the phytogeography of the region. Then come other general
works by Schlechtendal (93) and Macoun (46; 48), the last being mainly a com–
pilation of what was known before. Among other authors who have worked on the
flora of the Labrador coast, mention must be made of Ascherson (3), Butler (7),
Fernald and Sornborger (21), Delabarre (10; 11), Mackay (44), Hantzsch (28),
Fernald (17) for the southern extremity at Blanc Sablon, Wetmore (101), Wood–
worth (102, Polunin (57), Abbe (1), Gardner (24; 25) and Hustich and Pettersson
(33), and Wenner (100). Some of these did not actually visit Labrador but
studied the collections made by others in the region. There are moreover a
list published by the Kew Royal Botanical Gradens, (36), based upon the collec–
tions of Sir William MacGregor and, among the authoritative works on the ecology
of the Labrador coast, the important chapter from Tanner’s book (96) to which
Hustich contributed.
Former Studies on the Vegetation of Ungava
. The flora of the Labrador
coast was studied from quite early times, while that of Ungava remained nearly
unknown until after 1940. Prior to the surveys and collections of R. C. Clement
in 1944 and 1945, A. R. A. Taylor in 1944, Lepage and Dutilly in 1945, Rousseau
in 1947 and 1948 (74; 75; 81), and Marr in 1948 (identified mainly by Marcel
Raymond), whose herbarium specimens were consulted by the author, and the collec–
tions of Polunin in 1946 and 1949 (unpublished data), all that existed on the
flora of the interior of Ungava was a handful of notes, mainly on trees, gathered
by a few amateur botanists and especially the energetic geologist and explorer,
Albert Peter Low (43; 46; 81; 84). Before 1884, Lucien M. Turner had made
botanical collections while doing ethnological work at Fort Chimo. As for the
EA-PS. Rousseau: Flora and Vegetation in Quebec and Labrador
coast, south of the sixtieth parallel and the islands off its shore belonging
to the Northwest Territories, little more than scattered records were avil–
able prior to the investigations of Malte in 1928 and 1933, the numerous trips
of Gardner, Polunin in 1936 and subsequently, and Abbe and Marr in 1939 (53).
Former Studies on the Phytogeogaphical Divisions of the Quebec-Labrador
Peninsula
. Although the information was rather scant, phytogeographers have
nevertheless agreed on a crude division of the peninsula into phytogeograph–
ical regions. Harshberger in 1911 (29), following Merriam in 1891, recognized
an arctic zone in Quebec and Labrador (the northernmost part of northwest
Ungava, approximately north of the 60th parallel, and most of the Labrador
coast), the subarctic or Hudsonian zone (with its southern limit below Lake
Mistassini), and the North American temperate zone. Marie-Victorin (50) has
substantially the same main divisions (
region arctique
,
region hudsonienne
,
region laurentienne
). Halliday (27), considering only the forest, recognizes
in Quebec and Labrador the arctic tundra (with approximately the same limit
as Harshberger’s arctic) and the boreal forest region (covering the subarctic
and a part of the temperate zone as outlined by Harshberger).
Hustich (32) presents the most up-to-date work on the peninsula, based on
his own work as well as on data obtained from the most recent surveys (1949).
In accordance with facts, he divides the whole territory into eighteen dis–
tricts, distributed through four major divisions: the tundra, the forest
tundra, the taiga, the southern spruce region, and, beyond the limits of his
work, the St. Lawrence mixed-wood forest (not described, but shaded on his ac–
companying map). To Hustich, the forest tundra is identical with the subarctic
region, and the taiga and southern spruce areas constitute the boreal forest
region. This interpretation can be questioned. It would seem rather that the
EA-PS. Rousseau: Flora and Vegetation in Quebec and Labrador
taiga is essentially the subarctic forest and should not be considered as a
part of the Laurentian boreal forest which itself is a sector of the temperate
zone. This point will be discussed in the introduction to section II The Hemiarctic
Zone. In the present article, the term taiga applies to the subarctic forests,
in the subarctic zone, and to the subarctic patches in the hemiarctic zone.
Among general works concerned with the phytogeography of Quebec-Labrador,
we should mention Villeneuve’s Apercu climatique du Quebec (99), because of its
relation to natural vegetation, and Fernald’s work on “
Persistence of Plants in
Unglaciated Areas of Boreal America
(19), which will be discussed under the
heading Phytogeographical Aspects and Glaciation.
Physiological Behavior of Arctic and Alpine Plants
. A good many plants
grow simultaneously in the arctic tundra and on the alpine meadows of the highest
summits in the northern temperate zone. The arctic and alpine formations have
in common certain factors: an absence of tree growth, which favors the sun-loving
plants; a short growing season allowing the existence of only fast-growing plants
which generally have a well-developed underground system; and finally a great
variation in diurnal and nocturnal temperature — an eliminating factor for
tender species. Alpine as well as arctic plants must be equipped to germinate
at low temperature. Marcel Raymond and Nils Johanssen reported (verbatim) an
observation made in the refrigerators of the Montreal Botanical Garden, where
pans sown with different seeds are stored for some time at low temperature
before being brought to the warmer temperature in the greenhouse. After being
stratified for six weeks, pans of
Oxytropis podocarpa
(the seeds of which had
been brought from Payne Bay) freely produced seedlings before leaving the refrig–
erator, while plants of the temperate or tropical zones germinate only occasion–
ally under such unfavorable conditions.
EA-PS. Rousseau: Flora and Vegetation in Quebec-Labrador
The main difference between arctic and alpine plants — which require
similar conditions as far as soil, water, and temperature are concerned — is
probably the length of the period of daylight during the growing season. While
in sectors of the Arctic in mid-July there are 22 hours of daylight, the number
is reduced to approximately 16 or 17 hours in the Gaspe region mountains, even
less on Mount Washington, and to only 12 hours on Mount Popocatepetl, near Mexico
City. The plants of Popocatepetl, although morphologically comparable with
arctic plants, nevertheless belong to entirely different species. Often trop–ical plants grown in northern latitudes do not develop normally because of the
greater length of summer days, and will flower and produce fruits only if the
daily period of light is reduced. (See discussion concerning
Lathyrus venosus
var.
tonsus
(syn.
L.
[:
]^
r
^
ollandii
), in reference 52). Some plants are evidently
adapted to a specific length of daylight. Theoretically, within the limits of
Canada, we appear to have: (
1
) indifferent arctic-alpine plants, (
2
) strictly
arctic plants, which cannot tolerate southern alpine habitats where the period
of daylight is too short, and (
3
) strictly alpine plants, which, although built
to survive in the severe conditions of the Arctic, will not grow spontaneously
in the far-northern habitats because, for example, the summer period of daylight
is too lengthy.
Scope of the Present Study
. The present article is not an exhaustive
floristic work on Ungava and Labrador, but only a preliminary study based mainly
on recent surveys. More attention will be given to the two districts surveyed
by the author in particular, not only for practical reasons but also because
they are extreme types which may be considered more or less as samples of the
whole territory. The author has also had access to the collections of colleagues
who have not yet published their monographs of the areas they surveyed, mainly
EA-PS. Rousseau: Flora and Vegetation in Quebec and Labrador
Clements, Taylor, Marr, Lepage, Dutilly, and Calder. The northernmost parts
of Labrador and of northwestern Quebec, north of 60° N. latitude, are
described in this Encyclopedia by Polunin (see “Canadian Eastern Arctic.”).
Bryophytes and thallophytes are considered only briefly in this study,
which will limit itself to examining the arctic aspects of the vegetation
of the Quebec-Labrador Peninsula. After describing the main floristic
regions, it will be necessary to consider briefly the arctic outposts in
the temperate zone and their phytogeographical aspects.
Floristic Regions of the Quebec-Labrador Peninsula
. In the portions
of Quebec and Labrador considered here, we can distinguish the following
floristic zones: (
1
) the arctic zone, north of limit of tree growth;
(
2
) the hemiarctic zone, approximately between latitude 55° and 58° N., which
is an area covered by the forest tundra composed of patches of taiga and
tundra, and is described in Section II. For detailed description, the
arctic and hemiarctic zones will be subdivided into smaller regions. The
subdivisions which have been chosen correspond more or less to the main
hydrographic basins; though convenient from a geographical point of view,
they are not really phytogeographical regions.
The subarctic zone, covered by the taiga, approximately between lat–
itude 50° and 55° N., lies outside of the scope of the present study.
However, in the subarctic zone and even in the temperate zone are certain
outposts of arctic vegetation which will be considered briefly at the end
of this article.
EA-PS. Rousseau: Flora and Vegetation in Quebec and Labrador
Arctic and Hemiarctic Phanerogamic Flora
The numbers refer to geographical sectors, figured on the accompanying
map and described later. The numbers preceded by “A” designate sections of
the arctic zone, by “H” those of the hemiarctic zone. The number of arctic
and hemiarctic species of each family is given in parentheses after the name
of the family, and the total number of species from each zone is listed at
the end of the enumeration.
POLYPODIACEAE (A7; H14)
Polypodium virginianum
, H2
Athyrium filix-femina
, H2, H8
A. alpestre
, H8
Dryopteris disjuncta
, A3, H2, H3, H4, H7, H8
D. fragrans
, A2, A3, A7, H1, H2, H
[:
]
3
D. linnaeana
, H7, H8
D. phegopteris
, A4, A6, H1, H2, H4, H7, H8
D. spinulosa
, H1, H2, H7, H8
Cryptogramma stelleri
, H2
Cystopteris fragilis
, A1, A2, A3, A6, A7, H2, H3, H4, H7, H8
Woodsia belli
, ?A3, H2
W. glabella
, A3, A4, A6, H2, H4, H8
W. ilvensis
, A2, A4, A6, H1, H3, H7, H8
Onoclea sensibilis
, H8
OSMUNDACEAE (H1)
Osmunda claytoniana
, H8
OPHIOGLOSSACEAE (H4)
Botrychium lanceolatum
, H2
B. lunaria
, H2, H4, H8
B. matricariaefolium
, H2
B. multifidum
, H2
EQUISETACEAE (A3; H8)
Equisetum arvense
, A2, A3, A6, H1, H2, H3, H7, H8
E. fluviatile
, H1, H2, H3, H8
E. litorale
, H7
E. palustre
, H3, H4
E. pratense
, H7
E. scirpoides
, H3
E. sylvaticum
, A2, A3, A4, A6, H1, H2, H3, H4, H7, H8
E. variegatum
, A2, A3, H2, H4
LYCOPODIACEAE (A4; H8)
Lycopodium alpinum
, A6, H2, H8
L. annotinum
, A2, A3, A6, H1, H2, H3, H4, H7, H8
EA-PS. Rousseau: Flora and Vegetation in Quebec and Labrador
L. clavatum
, H2, H8
L. complanatum
, A3, H2, H3, H4, H7, H8
L. lucidulum
, H8
L. obscurum
, H2, H4, H7, H8
L. sabinaefolium
, H2, H4, H7, H8
L. selago
, A2, A3, A6, A7, H1, H2, H3, H7, H8
SELAGINELLACEAE (A1; H1)
Selaginella selaginoides
, A6, H2, H4, H8
ISOETACEAE (H2)
Isoetes braunii
, H2, H3, H4, H8
I. Macrospora
, H8
PINACEAE (H4)
Larix laricina
, H1, H2, H3, H4, H7, H8
Picea glauca
, H2, H4, H7, H8
P. mariana
, H1, H2, H3, H4, H7, H8
Abies balsamea
, H8
CUPRESSACEAE (A1; H1)
Juniperus communis
, A6, A7, H2, H3, H4, H7, H8
SPARGANIACEAE (A1; H2)
Sparganium angustifolium
, H7, H8
S. hyperboreum
, A2, A3, A6, H1, H2, H3, H7, H8
POTAMOGETONACEAE (A1; H6)
Potamogeton alpinus
, A4, H2, H7
P. filiformis
, H2
P. gramineus
, H4, H8
P. praelongus
, H7, (?) H8
P. pectinatus
, H4
P. richardsonii
, H2
SCHEUCHZERIACEAE (A1; H2)
Triglochin maritima
, H2, H3, H8
T. palustris
, A6, H2, H7, H8
GRAMINEAE (A29; H52)
Hierochloe alpina
, A2, A3, A6, A7, H1, H2, H3, H7, H8
H. odorata
, A2, A6, H2, H4, H8
Oryzopsis canadensis
, H2, H4
O. pungens
, H2
Phleum alpinum
, H2, H7, H8
Alopecurus alpinus
, A7
A. aequalis
, A6
Agrostis borealis
, A2, A3, A4, A6, H1, H2, H3, H4, H7, H8
A. scabra
, H2,
[:
]
H8
Arctagrostis latifolia
, A1, A2, A3
Cinna latifolia
, H2
EA-PS. Rousseau: Flora and Vegetation in Quebec and Labrador
Calamagrostis canadensis
, A2, A3, A6, A7, H1, H2, H3, H4, H7, H8
C. deschampsioides
, H2
C. hyperborea
, H2
C. inexpansa
, H4, H8
C. labradorica
, H7
C. lacustris
, A3
C. neglecta
, A3, A6, H2, H3, H4, H7, H8
C. pickeringii
, H7
C. purpurascens
, H4
Deschampsia alpina
, A6, H7
D. atropurpurea
, A2, A3, A6, H2, H7
D. caespitosa
, A2, A4, H1, H2, H3, H4, H7
D. flexuosa
, A2, A3, A6, H2, H3, H7, H8
O. spicata
, H8
Trisetum spicatum
, A2, A3, A4, A6, A7, H2, H3, H4, H7, H8
Catabrosa algida
, A3, A6
C. aquatica
, H2, H8
Poa alpigena
, A6, H2
P. alpina
, A1, A2, A3, A6, A7, H2, H7, H8
P. arctica
, A2, A3, A4, A6, A7, H2,
[:
]
H7, H8
P. eminens
, H2, H8
P. fernaldiana
, H7
P. glauca
, A2, A3, A6, H2, H7, H8
P. intermedia
, A2
P. labradorica
, H8
P. pratensis
, A2, H2, H3, H8
Dupontia fisheri
, A2, A3, A6, H2, H7
Glyceria borealis
, H8
G. nervata
, H8
Puccinellia angustata
, H2
P. lucida
, A7
P. macra
, H2
P. paupercula
, A3, A7, H8
P. phryganodes
, A3, A6, H8
Festuca brachyphylla
, A2, A3, A4, A6, A7, H2, H3, H4, H7, H8
F. prolifera
, H2, H3
F. rubra
, A2, A6, H2, H7, H8
F. saximontana
, H2, H3
F. vivipara
, A6, H8
Bromus pumepllianus
, H2
Schizachne purpurascens
, H2
Agropyron latiglume
, H3, H4
A. repens
, H8
A. trachycaulum
, H2, H4, H8
A. ungavense
, H3, H4, H7
Hordeum brachyantherum
, H8
J. jubatum
, H4, H8
Elymus arenarius
, A2, A3, A4, A6, A7, H2, H3, H4, H7, H8
EA-PS. Rousseau: Flora and Vegetation in Quebec and Labrador
CYPERACEAE (A45; H75; hybrids not counted)
Eleocharis acicularis
, A3, H2, H3, H8
E. smallii
, H2
Scirpus atrocinctus
, H8
S. caespitosus
, A2, A3, A6, A7, H2, H3, H7, H8
S. hudsonianus
, H2, H8
Eriophorum angustifolium
, A2, A3, A4, A6, A7, H2, H3, H7, H8
E. brachyantherum
(
E. opacum
) H2, H8
E. callitrix
, A6, H2, H8
E. chamissonis
(
E. medium
sensu Hulten,
E. chamissonis
var.
aquatile
sensu Fernald), H2, H3, H8
E. rousseauianum
, A2, H2, H3
E. russeolum
(
E. chamissonis
sensu Fernald), H3, H7, H8
E. scheuchzeri
, A2, A3, A4, A6, A7, H1, H2, H3, H4, H7, H8
E. spissum
(
E. callitrix
sensu Fernald et al., non Cham. and
E. vaginatum
auct.), A2, A3, A6, A7, H2, H3, H7, H8
Kobresia myosuroides
, A3, A6, H8
K. simpliciuscula
, A7, H3
C. angustior
, H8
C. aquatilis
(including
C. stans
), A2, A3, A6, A7, H2, H3, H4, H7,
[:
]H8
C. arcta
, H3
C. atrata
, H2, H3
C. atratiformis
, H2, H3, H7, H8
C. atrofusca
, A3, A7, H2, H3, H
78
C. bicolor
, A3
C. bigelowii
(incl.
C. anguillata
), A2, A3, A4, A6, A7, H1, H2, H3, H4, H7, H8
C. brunnescens
, A2, A3, H1, H2, H3, H7, H8
C. buxbaumii
, H2
C. canescens
, A2, A3, A6, H2, H3, H7, H8
C. capillaris
, A6, A7, H2, H3, H8
C. capitata
(
C. artogena
incl.), A2, A6, H2, H3, H7, H8
C. chordorrhiza
, H1, H3, H7
C. deflexa
, H2, H3, H7
C. disperma
, H2, H3
C. exilis
, H2
C. glacialis
, A3, A6, A7, H2, H3, H4, H7, H
98
C. glareosa
, A3, A6, H2, H7, H8
C. gynocrates
, A2, B2, H3, H7, H8
C. haydeni
, H3, H4
C. holostoma
, A2
C. interior
, H2
C. lagopina
, A2, A3, A6, A7, H2, H8
C. langeana
, A3, H8
C.
[: a
]lenticularis
, H2
C. leptalea
, H2, H3, H8
C. limosa
, H3, H8
C. macloviana
, A6, H3, H4, H8
C. marina
, H7
C. maritima
, A3, A4, A6, H2, H3, H8
EA-PS. Rousseau: Flora and Vegetation in Quebec and Labrador
C. media
, A6, H2, H4, H8
C. membranacea
, A2, A3, A6, H3, H8
C. microglochin
, A6, H2, H3, H7
C. miliaris
, A2, A3, A4, H2, H7, H8
C. misandra
, A3, A6, A7, H2, H8
C. misandroides
, H4
C. morrisseyi
, A6
C. nardina
, A3, A7, H2, H3, H4
C. nigra
, H2
C. norvegica
, A2, A3, A6, A7, H2, H3, H8
C. oligosperma
, H2, H8
C. paleacea
, H2, H8
C. pauciflora
, H2, H7, H8
C. paupercula
, A6, H2, H3, H7
C. praticola
, H2, H3, H4
C. raeana
, A3
C. rariflora
, A2, A3, A4, A6, H2, H3, H7, H8
C. recta
, H2, H8
C. rostrata
, H2, H7, H8
C. rotundata
, A2, A3, H1, H3
C. rupestris
, A3, A6, H2, H3, H7
C. salina
, A2
C. saxatilis
(incl.
C. saxatilis
var.
laxa
=
C. procerula
) A2, A3, A6, A7,
H1, H2, H3, H7, H8
C. scirpoidea
, A3, A6, A7, H2, H3, H7, H8
C. stellulata
, H2, H4
C. sterilis
, H8
C. stylosa
, A6, H2, H5, H8
C. subspathacea
, A2, A6, H7, H8
C. supina
, H3, H4
C. tenuiflora
, A2, A3, H2, H3, H7
C. trisperma
, H2, H7, H8
C. ursina
, H2
C. vaginata
, A2, H2, H3, H4, H8
C. vesicaria
, H8
C. williamsii
, A2, A3, H3, H7
ARACEAE (H1)
Calla palustris
, H8
ERIOCAULACEAE (H.)
Eriocaulon septangulare
, H8
JUNCACEAE (A11; H19)
Luzula confusa
, A2, A3, A4, A6, A7, H2, H3, H7, H8
L. groelandica
, A2, A3, He, H7
L. nivalis
, H8
L. parviflora
, A2, A3, A6, H2, H3, H7, H8
L. spicata
, A2, A3, A6, H2, H7, H8
L. sudetica
, H2, H8
L. wahlenbergii
, A2, A3, A7, H2
EA-PS. Rousseau: Flora and Vegetation in Quebec and Labrador
Juncus albescens
, A2, A3, A6, A7, H2, H3, H7, H8
J. alpinus
, H2, H3, H7, H8
J. arcticus
, A2, A7, H3, H8
J. balticus
, H2, H3, H4, H8
J. biglumis
, A2, A6, H2, H8
J. brevicaudatus
, H2, H8
J. bufonius
, H2, H8
J. castaneus
, A2, A3, A4, A6, H2, H3, H4, H7, H8
J. filiformis
, A2, A3, A6, H2, H4, H7, H8
J. subtilis
, H3, H8
J. trifidus
, A2, A3, A6, H2, H7, H8
LILACEAE (A2; H6)
Tofieldia pusilla
(syn.
T. borealis
), A2, A3, A6, A7, H2, H3, H4, H7, H8
Clintonia borealis
, H8
Smilacina trifolia
, A6, H8
Maianthemum canadense
, H8
Streptopus amplexifolius
, H1, H2, H7, H8
S. rosus
, H4
IRIDACEAE (H1)
Iris hookeri
, H8
ORCHIDACEAE (A3; H8)
Habenaria dilatata
, A6, H1, H2, H3, H8
H. hyperborea
, H2
H. obtusata
, A2, A4, A6, A7, H2, H8
H. viridis
, H2
Spiranthes romanzoffiana
, H8
Listera borealis
, H2
L. cordata
, H2, H7, H8
Corallorhiza trifida
, A6, H7 (A3; H8)
SALICACEAE (A11; H24)
Salix arctica
, A2, A3, A6, A7, H2, H7, H8
S. arctophila
, A2, A3, A6, A7, H2, H3, H7, H8
S. argyrocarpa
, A6, H2, H3, H8
S. bebbiana
, H3
S. brachycarpa
, A2, A3, H2, H7
S. calcicola
, A2, A3, A4, A6, A7, H2, H3, H4, H7
S. candi^[]^a
, H2
S. cordifolia
, A2, A3, A6, A7, H1, H2, H3, H4, H7, H8
S. discolor
, H2, H7
S. glaucophylloides
, H2
S. hebecarpa
, H4
S. herbacea
, A2, A3, A6, H2, H3, H7, H8
S. humilis
, H2, H7, H8
S. myrtillifolia
, H3, H4
S. pedicellaris
, H2, H7
S. pellita
, H2, H4, H7
S. planifolia
, A2, A3, A6, H1, H2, H3, H4, H7, H8
EA-PS. Rousseau: Flora and Vegetation in Quebec-Labrador
S. pseudomonticola
, H2
S. pyrifolia
, H2, H8
S. reticulata
, A2, A3, A6, A7, H2, H3
S. uva-ursi
, A2, A3, A6, °4, H1, H3, H4, H7, H8
S. vestita
, A2, A6, H2, H3, H4, H7, H8
Populus balsamifera
, H1, H2, H3, H4, H7, H8
P. tremuloides
, H8
MYRICACEAE (A1; H1)
Myrica gale
, A6, H1, H2, H3, H7, H8
BETULACEAE (A2; H8)
Betula borealis
, H7
B. glandulosa
, A2, A3, A6, A7, H1, H2, H3, H7, H8
B. michauxii
, H5, H8
B. minor
, H2, H3, H7
B. papyrifera
, H8
B. pumila
, H8
Alnus crispa
, A2, A3, A6, H1, H2, H3, H7, H8
A. rugosa
, H2 (A2; H8)
SANTALACEAE (H1)
Comandra livida
, H2, H4, H7, H8
POLYGONACEAE (A3; H11)
Oxyria digyna
, A2, A3, A4, A6, H2, H7, H8
Koenigia islandica
, A2, A3, A4, A6, H2, H8
Rumex acetosa
, H8
R. acetosella
, H8
R. fenestratus
, H2, H8
R. pallidus
, H2
R. triangulivalvis
, H2
Polygonum aviculare
, H7, H8
P. boreale
, H8
P. convolvulus
, H8
P. viviparum
, A2, A3, A4, A6, A7, H2, H3, H7, H8
PORTULACACEAE (A1; H1)
Montia lamprosperma
, A6, H2, H7, H8
CARYOPHYLLACEAE (A27; H28)
Sagina caespitosa
, A3, A6, A7, H8
S. intermedia
, A2, A6, H
[:
]8
S. nodosa
, A2, H3
S. procumbens
, H8
S. saginoides
, A2, A3
Arenaria groenlandica
, A3, A6, H1, H2, H3, H4, H7, H8
A. humifusa
, A2, A3, A6, H2, H8
A. macrophylla
, H3
A. peploides
, A2, A3, A4, A7, H3, H7, H8
A. rossii
, A3
EA-PS. Rousseau: Flora and Vegetation in Quebec-Labrador
A. rubella
, A2, A3, A6, H2, H4, H3, H8
A. sajanensis
, A6, H8
A. uliginosa
, H3
Stellaria borealis
(
S. calycantha
), A2, A3, H2, H3, H4, H7, H8
S. crassifolia
, A3, A6, H2, H3, H7, H8
S. crassipes
, A2, A3
S. humifusa
, A4, A6, H2, H3, H7, H8
S. laeta
, A2, A3, H3
S. longipes
, A2, A3, A4, A6, A7, H2, H3, H4, H7, H8
S. media
, H8
S. monantha
, A2, A3, H3, H4
S. subvestita
, A2, A3
Cerastium alpinum
, A2, A3, A4, A6, A7, H2, H4, H7, H8
C. arvense
, A2, A3, A4, A6, A7, H3, H4, H7, H8
C. beeringianum
, A2, A3, A4, A6, H3, H4, H7
C. cerastoides
, A3, A6, H7, H8
Lychnis affinis
, A2, A3, A4, A7, H2
L. alpina
, A4, A6, H2, H3, H4, H7, H8
L. apetala
, A4, H2
L. furcata
, A6, H4
Silene acaulis
, A2, A3, A4, A6, A7, H1, H2, H7, H8
S. cucubalus
, H8 (H28)
NYMPHAEACEAE (H1)
Nuphar variegatum
, H2, H8
RANUNCULACEAE (A13; H16)
Ranunculus acris
, H8
R. allenii
, A2, A6, H2, H7
R. cymbalaria
, H2, H8
R. hyperboreus
, A2, A3, A4, A6, A7, H2, H3, H8
R. lapponicus
, A2, A3, H3, H7, H8
R. nivalis
, A2, A3, A6
R. pallasii
, A2
R. pedatifidus
, A2, A3, A6, A7, H2
R. gomelini
var.
hookeri
, A2
R. pygmaeus
, A2, A6, H2, H7, H8
R. reptans
, A2, A3, A6, H1, H2, H4, H7, H8
R. trichophyllus
, A2, A3, A4, A6, H2, H7, H8
Thalictrum polygamum
, H8
Anemone multifida
, H2
A. parviflora
, A3, A4, A6, A7, H2, H3
A. richardsoni
, A2, A3, A4, H2, H3
Caltha palustris
, H2
Coptis groenlandica
, A2, A3, A6, H2, H3, H7, H8
Actaea rubra
, H2
PAPAVERACEAE (A1; H1)
Papaver radicatum
, A2, A3, A6, A7, H7, H8
FUMARIACEAE (H15)
Corydalis sempervirens
, H3
EA-PS. Rousseau: Flora and Vegetation in Quebec-Labrador
CRUIFERAE (A18; H21)
Cochlearia officinalis
, A3, A4, A6, A7, H2, H7, H8
.
Draba alpina
, A3, A7
D. arabisans
, A4, A6, H2, H8
D. Aurea
, A6, H2, H3
D. crassifolia
, A6
D. fladnizensis
, A2, A3, A4, A6, H2, H8
D. glabella
, A2, A3, A6, A7, H2, H3, H8
D. incana
, A6, H2, H8
D. lanceolata
, H2
D. minganensis
, H2, H3
D. nivalis
, A2, A3, A4, A6, A7, H2, H8
D. norvegica
, A7, H2
^
,
^
H8
D. rupestris
, A3, A6, H2
D.
[:
]
sornborgeri
, A6
Thlaspi arvense
, H8
Subularia aquatica
, H2, H8
Capsella bursa-pastoris
, H8
Raphanus raphanistrum
, H8
Braya purpurascens
, A3
Rorippa islandica
, H3, H8
Barbarea orthoceras
, H3
Eutrema edwardsii
, A2, A3
Gardamine bellidifolia
, A2, A3, A6, A7, H2, H7, H8
C. pratensis
, A2, A3, H3, H7, H8
Arabis alpina
, A3, A4, A6, H2, H8
A. arenicola
, A3, A6, A7, H1, H2, H3, H4, H7
DROSERACEAE (H3)
Drosera anglica
, H2
D. intermedia
(
D. longefolia
), H8
D. rotundifolia
, H2, H7, H8
CRASSULACEAE (A1; H1)
Sedum rosea
, A4, A6, H3, H7, H8
SAXIFRAGACEAE (A16; H20)
Saxifraga aizoides
, A2, A3, A4, A6, A7, H2, H3
S. aizoon
, A3, A4, A6, A7, H2, H3, H7, H8
S. caespitosa
, A2, A3 A4, A6, A7, H2, H8
S. cernua
, A2, A3, A4, A6, A7, H2, H7, H8
S. foliolosa
, A2, H7
S. hirculus
, A2, H2
S. nivalis
, A2, A3, A4, A6, H2, H8
S. oppositifolia
, A2
^
,
^
A3, A6, A7, H2, H8
S. rivularis
, A2, A3, A4, A6, A7, H2, H7, H8
S. stellaris
, A6, A7, H8
S. tricuspidata
, A2, A3, A4, A6, A7, H2, H3
Mitella N
EA-PS. Rousseau: Flora and Vegetation in Quebec-Labrador
Mitella nuda
, H2, H7
Chrysosplenium tetrandrum
, A3, A4, H2
Parnassia glauca
(
P. caroliniana
), H8
P. kotzebuei
, A2, A3, A4, A6, A7, H1, H2, H3, H7
P. obtusiflora
(
P. palustris auct. amer
.), A6(?), H2, H3, H4, H7, H8
P. parviflora
, A6(?), H8
Ribes glandulosum
, A3, H1, H2, H3, H4, H7, H8
R. lacustre
, H2
R. triste
, H2, H4
ROSACEAE (A12; H31)
Sorbus americana
, H2, H8
S. decora
, H2, H7, H8
Amelanchier bartramiana
, H2, H4, H7, H8
Fragaria virginiana
, H2
Sibbaldia procumbens
, A2, A3, A6, H2, H7, H8
Potentilla anserina
, H8(?)
P. Chamissonis
, A2
P. crantzii
, A2, A4, A6, A7, H2, H3, H8
P. egedii
, A2, A4, H2, H7, H8
P. fruticosa
, H2
P. hyparctica
(P. emarginata), A2, A3, A6, A7, H7
P. multifida
, H4
P. nivea
, A2, A3, A6, H2, H4, H7, H8
P. norvegica
, H3, H4, H7, H8
P. pacifica
, H8
P. palustris
, A2, A3, H1, H2, H3, H7, H8
P. pectinata
, H2, H4
P. pulchella
, H2
P. tridentata
, A2, A3, H1, H2, H3, H4, H7, H8
Geum rivale
, H2
Rubus acaulis
, A2, A3, A6, H1, H2, H3, H7
R. arcticus
, A6, A7, H8
R. chamaemorus
, A2, A3, A6, A7, H1, H2, H3, H4, H7, H8
R. strigosus
, H2, H4, H7, H8
R. peracaulis
, H7
R. pubescens
, H8
Alchemilla filicaulis
, H7, H8
A. glomerulans
, H8
A. vestita
, H7, H8
Sanguisorba canadensis
, H7, H8
Dryas integrifolia
, A2, A3, A6, A7, H2, H3, H8
LEGUMINOSAE (A9; H11)
Trifolium repens
, H8
Astragalus alpinus
, A2, A3, A4, A6, H2, H3, H4, H7, H8
A. eucosmus
, A3, A6, A7, H2, H3, H4, H8
Oxytropis belli
, A7, H3
EA-PS. Rousseau: Flora and Vegetation in Quebec-Labrador
O. foliolosa
, A2, A3, A6
O. hudsonica
, H2
O. johannensis
, A2, A3, H3, H4, H8
O. maydelliana
, A2, A7
O. podocarpa
, A3
O. terrae-novae
, A2, A6, H2, H8
Hedysarum alpinum
, H3, H4
H. mackenzei
, A4, H2
Lathyrus japonicus
, A2, A6, H2, H8
Vicia cracca
, H8
CALLITRICHACEAE (A1; H3)
Callitriche anceps
, A4(?), H2.
C. heterophylla
, H8
C. palustris
, H2, H3
EMPETRACEAE (A1; H1)
Empetrum nigrum
(incl.
E. hermaphroditicum
?), A2, A3, A4, A6, A7, H1, H7, H8
VIOLACEAE (A4; H5)
Viola adunca
, H8
V. labradorica
, A2, A3, A6, H2, H3, H7, H8
V. pallens
, A2, A3, A6, H2, H7, H8
V. repens
(
V. palustris
auct. amer.), A6, H7
V. selkirkii
, A2, H2
ELAEAGNACEAE (H1)
Shepherdia canadensis
, H2, H4, H8
ONAGRACEAE (A7; H10)
Epilobium anagallidifolium
, A3, A6, H2, H7, H8
E. angustifolium
, A2, A3, A6, A7, H1, H2, H3, H7, H8
E. ciliatum
, H4
E. davuricum
, H2
E. glandulosum
, A3, H7
E. hornemanii
, A2, A6, H2, H3, H8
E. lactiflorum
, A6(?), H2, H3(?), H8
E. palustre
, A2, A3, A6, H2, H3, H4, H7, H8
E. steckerianum
, H3
HALORAGIDACEAE (H2)
Myriophyllum exalbescens
, H2, H3
M. verticillatum
, H2
Hippuridaceae
(A1, H2)
HIPPURIDACEAE (A1; H2)
Hippuris tetraphylla
, H2
H. vulgaris
, A2, A3, A6(?), H1, H2, H3, H7, H8
EA-PS. Rousseau: Flora and Vegetation in Quebec-Labrador
UMBELLIFERAE (A1; H5)
Ligusticum scothicum
, H2, H8
Coeleplerum lucidum
, H8
Heracleum lanatum
, H2, H8
Conioselinum chinense
, A6, H8
Angelica atropurpurea
, H8
CORNACEAE (A2; H2)
Cornus canadensis
, A2, H2, H3, H7, H8
C. suecica
, A2, A3, H2, H7, H8
PYROLACEAE (A3, H4)
Pyrola grandiflora
, A2, A3, A4, A6, A7, H2, H3, H4, H7, H8
P. minor
, A6, A7, H2, H4, H7, H8
P. secunda
, A6, H2, H7, H8
Moneses uniflora
, H2, H7, H8
ERICACEAE (A13; H20)
Ledum groenlandicum
, A2, A3, A6, H1, H2, H3, H4, H7, H8
L. Palustre
, A2, A3, A6, H1, H2, H3, H7, H8
Rhododenron lapponicum
, A2, A3, A6, H2, H3, H7, H8
Loiseleuria procumbens
, A2, A3, H1, H2, H3, H7, H8
Kalmia angustifolia
, H8
K. polifolia
, H2, H3, H7, H8
Phyllodoce coerulea
, A2, A3, A6, H1, H2, H3, H7, H8
Cassiope hypnoides
, A2, A3, A6, H7, H8
Andromeda glaucophyll
a, H2, H3, H7
A. polifolia
, A2, H1, H2, H3, H7, H8
Chamaedaphne calyculata
, H1, H2, H7, H8
Arctostaphylos alpina
, A2, A3, A6, A7, H1, H2, H3, H7, H8
A. rubra
, H2
Chiogenes Hispidula
, H2, H7
Vaccinium angustifolium
, A6, H2, H7, H8
V. caespitosum
, A3, H2, H7, H8
V. myrtilloides
(
V. canadense
), H7
V. oxycoccos
, A2, A3, H1, H2, H3, H7, H8
V. uliginosum
, A2, A3, A4, A6, A7, H1, H2, H3, H7, H8
V. vitis-idaea
, A2, A3, A6, H1, H2, H3, H7, H8
DIAPENSIACEAE (A1; H1)
Diapensia lapponica
, A2, A3, A6, H1, H2, H3, H7, H8
PRIMULACEAE (A4; H5)
Primula egaliksensis
, A2, A6, H2, H7, H8
P. laurentiana
, A2(?), A6, H3, H4, H8
P. stricta
, A4, A6, A7, H2, H7, H8
Androsace septentrionalis
, H2, H3
Trientalis borealis
, A6, H2, H3, H7, H8
EA-PS. Rousseau: Flora and Vegetation in Quebec-Labrador
PLUMBAGINACEAE (A1; H1)
Ameria maritime
(
A. labradorica
), A2, A3, A6, H2, H3, H8
GENTIANACEAE (A3; H6)
Gentiana amarella
, H2, H3, H4, H8
G. nesophila
, H2
G. nivalis
, A6
G. propinqua
, H2
G. tenella
, A2, A3, A4
Lomatogonium rotatum
, A4, H2, H3, H4, H7, H9
Halenia deflexa
, H8
Menyanthes trifoliata
, H3, H7, H8
BORAGINACEAE (A1; H2)
Mertensia maritima
, A2, A7, H2, H8
Lappula echinata
, H8
SCOPHULARICEAE (A13; H18)
Limosella aquatica
, H2, H3, H8
Veronica alpina
, A2, A3, A4, A6, A7, H2, H3, H7, H8
Castilleja septentrionalis
, A4, A6, A7, H2, H3, H4, H7, H8
Euphrasia arctica
, A2, A3, A4, A6, H2, H3, H4, H7, H8
E. disjuncta
, H8
E. hudsoniana
, A6, H1
E. oakesii
, H2(?), H8
Bartsia alpina
, A2, A3, A4, A6, A7, H2, H3, H7, H8
Pedicularis flammea
, A2, A3 A4, A6, A7, H2, H3, H7, H8
P. groenlandica
, A2, A3, A6, H1, H2, H3, H7, H8
P. hirsuta
, A2, A3, A6
P. labradorica
, A2, A3, A6, H2, H3, H7, H8
P. lanata
, A3, A4
P. lapponica
, A2, A3, A4, A6, H2, H8
P. palustris
, H8
P. sudetica
, A2, A6, H2.
Rhinanthus borealis
, A6, H8
R. crista-galli
, H8
R. groenlandicus
, H2, H3, H8
R. oblongifolius
, H2, H3, H4, H7
LENTIBULARIACEAE (A4; H6)
Pinguicula villosa
, A2, A6, H2, H3, H8
P. vulgaris
, A2, A6, A7, H2, H3, H4, H7, H8
Utricularia intermedia
, H3
U. minor
, A3, H8
U. ochroleuca
, A2, A3, H3
U. vulgaris
, H2(?), H8(?)
EA-PS. Rousseau: Flora and Vegetation in Quebec-Labrador
PLANTAGACEAE (A1; H2)
Plantago juncoides
, A2, A3, A4, A6, H2, H7, H8
P. major
, H8
RUBIAECEAE (A1; H3)
Galium brandegeei
, H7
G. labradoricum
, A3, H2, H7, H8
G. trifidum
, H7 H8
CAPRIFOLIACEAE (A2; H4)
Lonicera villosa
, A6, H2, H3, H4, H7, H8
Linnaea borealis
, A2, A3, A6, H1, H2, H7, H8
Viburnum acerifolium
, H2
V. edule
, H2, H3, H7, H8
VALERIANACEAE (H1)
Valeriana septentrionalis
, H2
CAMPANULACEAE (A2; H2)
Campanula rotundifolia
, A3, A6, A7, H1, H2, H3, H4, H7, H8
C. uniflora
, A2, A3, A6, H2, H8
LOBELIACEAE (H1)
Lobelia dortmanna
, H8
COMPOSITAE (A35; H50)
Solidago macrophylla
, A2, A3, A6, H1, H2, H3, H4, H7, H8
S. multiradiata
, A4, A6, A7, H2, H3, H4, H7 H8
S. uliginosa
, H2(?)
Aster foliaceus
, H8
A. longifolius
, H2
A. memoralis
, H8
A. novi-belgii
, H8
A. puniceus
, H2, H7, H8
A. radula
, H2, H8
Erigeron elatus
, H2, H4
E. eriocephalus
, H1
E. humlis
, A2, A3
E. unalaschensis
, A6, A7
Antennaria augustata
, A2, A3, A6, H4
A. canadensis
, H8
A. canescens
, A2, A3 A6, H1 H8
A. hudsonica
, A6
A. isolepis
, A2, A6, H2, H4, H8
A. labradorica
, A2, A6, H3
A. neglecta
, H2
A. petaolidea
, H8
A. pygmaea
, A6, H1
EA-PS. Rousseau: Flora and Vegetation in Quebec-Labrador
A. rousseauii
, A2, A3, A7
A. ungavensis
, A2 A3, H3
Gnaphalium norvegicum
, A6, H2
G. supinum
, A2, A6 H7
G. uliginosum
, H8
Achillea borealis
, H7, H8
A. lanulosa
, H7
A. millefolium
, A2, H2, H8
A nigrescens
, H1, H2, H3, H4, H7, H8
A. ptarmica
, H8
Matricaria inodora
, A2, H2, H8
Chrysanthemum arcticum
, A2, H2
Tanacetum huronense
, A2, H2
Artemisia borealis
, A2, A6, H2, H3, H7, H8
Petasites palmatus
, A2, A3, H2, H3, H7, H8
P. sagittatus
, A2, H2, H3, H7
P. trigonophyllus
, A2, H2, H3
Arnica alpina
, A6, H7
A. attenuata
, H2
A. terrae-novae
, A6
A. plantaginea
, A2, A3, A4, A6, H2, H3, H4, H7, H8
Senecio congestus
, A2, A6, H2, H7, H8
Senecio indecorus
, (A6(?)
S. pauciflorum
, A3, A6, A7, H2, H3, H4, H7, H8
S. pauperculus
, H2(?)
S. pseudo-arnica
, H8
S. vulgaris
, H8
Taraxacum ceratophorum
, A2, A3, H2, H8
T. hyperboreum
, A2
T. lacerum
, A2, A3, A4, A6, H2, H7, H8
T. lapponicum
, A2, A6, A7, H2, H3, H7, H8
T. phymatocarpum
, A2
T. pseudonorvegicum
, H3
T. russeolum
, H3
T. umbrinum
, A2, A3
Crepis nana
, A6
Hieracium canadense
, H2
H. groenlandicum
, H8
TOTAL
. The total gives 325 species (belonging to 47 families) for the
arctic parts of Quebec and Labrador studied in this article, and 551 species
(belonging to 61 families) for hemiarctic Quebec and Labrador. To give a true
picture, we should add to the arctic species those tabulated for section A1 and
EA-PS. Rousseau: Flora and Vegetation in Quebec-Labrador
A5, described in this Encyclopedia by Polunin (See “Canadian Eastern Arctic”).
These two sections will add only a few species not tabulated here.
It will be noted that weeds are particularly common in section H8, the
southern Labrador coast, probably on account of the more numerous contacts with
Europe, Newfoundland, and the St. Lawrence Valley.
The most important families in arctic and hemiarctic Quebec and Labrador
are the following, the percentage being that of the total phanerogamic flora
in the zone considered:
|
|
Arctic
(Total 325 species)
|
Hemiarctic
(total 551 species)
|
|
Cyperaceae
|
13.8%
|
13.6%
|
|
Gramineae
|
9.0%
|
9.5%
|
|
Juncaceae
|
3.4%
|
3.3%
|
|
Salicaceae
|
3.4%
|
4.4%
|
|
Caryophyllaceae
|
8.3%
|
5.0%
|
|
Ranunculaceae
|
4.0%
|
2.9%
|
|
Cruciferae
|
5.5%
|
3.8%
|
|
Saxifragaceae
|
4.9%
|
3.6%
|
|
Rosaceae
|
3.7%
|
5.6%
|
|
Ericaceae
|
4.0%
|
3.6%
|
|
Scrophulariceae
|
4.0%
|
3.3%
|
|
Compositae
|
10.8%
|
9.1%
|
If we put together the most important families of the territories studied,
the Cyperaceae, Gramineae, and Compositae, the total is 109 arctic species
and 177 hemiarctic species, respectively, 33.5% of the arctic flora and 32.1%
of the hemiarctic flora tabulated here.
I. THE ARCTIC ZONE PROPER
In the arctic zone proper, coniferous trees or any others, except for
scrubby dicotyledons, are entirely absent. Instead of a forest covering, a
dwarf and largely herbaceous or cryptogamous — often discontinuous — set
of communities occurs. Although arctic Quebec is the most southerly arctic
EA-PS. Rousseau: Flora and Vegetation in Quebec-Labrador
region, it is less known botanically than the more northerly portions of the
Canadian Eastern Arctic.
Subdivisions of Arctic Quebec and Labrador
It is still premature, with the information now on hand, to attempt to
characterize the phytogeographical districts of the Quebec-Labrador arctic
area. For the sake of convenience the zone could be divided into districts,
based mainly upon the hydrographic systems. Two of the districts (A1 and A5)
have been studied by Polunin in his article “Canadian Eastern Arctic.” Of the
five remaining groups, two will be described in greater detail, viz. the Kogaluk
and Payne regions. They have been chosen because they represent important sec–
tors of arctic Quebec and we well known to the author.
Northernmost Quebec
(A1). In this region, north of 60° N. latitude, the
main river system is the Povungnituk. The botanical surveys cover mainly the
seashore and McGill Lake in the interior.
Kogaluk Region
(A2). This district, belonging to the Hudson Bay drainage
system, lies between 60° N. latitude and the limit of trees north of Lake Minto.
The main river is the Kogaluk, surveyed for the first time in 1948 by the author
(Rousseau 1948 B and 1949, Aubert de la Rüe 1949-50, Gadbois 1949).
Payne River Region
(A3). This is in the Ungava Bay drainage system,
between 60° N. latitude and the limit of trees a few miles north of Leaf River.
The most important hydrographic system in the region is Payne River, having its
source in Payne Lake, a lake sixty miles long.
South Shore of Ungava Bay
(A4). For some miles inland, the southern shore
of Ungava Bay is treeless. On the whole, the region is poorly known.
Port Burwell Region
(A5). This is the northernmost part of Labrador and
northeastern Quebec, north of 60° N. latitude.
EA-PS. Rousseau: Flora and Vegetation in Quebec-Labrador
Labrador Arctic Lobe
(A6). South of the preceding region, this part of
the country, destitute of forest, extends as far south as 56° N. latitude, and
embraces the highlands of northern Labrador and northeastern Quebec. The sec–
tor begins east of George River. In certain bays between Hebron and Port
Manners are found northern outposts of the coniferous subarctic forest. They
would better be considered as parts of section H8 (Labrador Hemiarctic coast).
Belcher Islands and Other Islands of Eastern Hudson Bay
(A7).
The Kogaluk and Payne Regions
Before the author’s exploration of the Kogaluk and the Payne, only the
lowest parts of these rivers were known. Low (41) had visited the mouth of te
Kogaluk, Todd (97) and Doutt had traveled about 25 miles inland from its mouth.
As for Flaherty (22), his explorations extended from Ungava Bay to the North
Payne, which might well bear the name of Flaherty River. The first botanical
survey of the territory, as well as the first exploration of the Kogaluk and
Payne rivers, was accomplished in 1948 (5; 74; 81). Accompanying the author
were Edgar Aubert de la Rűe, geologist, Jean Michea, ethnographer and archaeolo–
gist, Pierre Gadbois, geographer, and four Montagnais Indians from Seven Islands.
Topography and Geology
. The geographical features (topography, geology,
hydrography, mete
^
o
^
rology and soil) are described briefly and only as far as the
comprehension of plant habitat demands. The entire region is pre-Cambrian and
formed of granitic and gneissic material with the exception of the Payne Bay
post vicinity where shaly rock is found. The whole, an undulated plain worn
away by the Quarternary glacier, is covered by numerous boulders and dotted by
innumerable lakes. On the Hudson Bay slope, the terrain is low and flat, with
only a few small hills. Between the Kogaluk and Payne systems is a broken
EA-PS. Rousseau: Flora and Vegetation in Quebec-Labrador
country with summits of approximately 400 to 600 feet. Around Payne Lake,
the country is as level as long the Kogaluk system. The farther the Payne
is descended, the more hilly is the sourrounding country.
Hydrography
. The Kogaluk and Payne rivers are quite different in aspect.
Th
[:
]^
e
^
first is more or less a chain of Quaternary lakes separated by falls and
having only a few small affluents. There are no falls or cascades on the Payne;
the rapids, however, are numerous, the majority of which need no portages when
following the current. The affluents of the Payne are much more numerous than
those of the Kogaluk. In spite of the rapidity of the current of the Payne,
aquatic
Ranunculi
establish themselves in the river to a depth of five to ten
feet. The color of the water, as viewed from the air, varies occasionally.
The light green of the lakes and rivers, no doubt, is due mainly to the pig–
mentation extracted from decaying
Cladonia
. Some lakes are of a dark green,
almost black, a color produced by the presence of various algae. In swift
rivers, the dark green lines of the bottom are caused by the feathery nature
of aquatic
Ranunculi
. Only a few lakes are of a milky color. On Anticosti
Island, the author noticed that this color was caused by marly bottoms. In
northern Ungava, the same appearance must be owing to a clayey bottom, as clay
formations are present here and there. The circumstances of the trip did not
allow time to ascertain whether other factors may possibly be responsible for
the production of such conditions.
Meteorology
. The only meteorological data from the interior in this
area are those from the year 1948, a particularly early summer. The lakes
had already thawed out before July 14. Two years earlier, Payne Lake was
still a mass of ice on July 23, as may be judged from an aerial photograph.
In the summer of 1948 a temperature of 88°F. was read during the day, and
EA-PS. Rousseau: Flora and Vegetation in Quebec-Labrador
at night it frequently remained as high as 60°F. only two nights, during
the first half of August, the t
^
h
^
ermometer dipped to
30°^
32°
^
and there was a light
frost. Based upon such records, the isotherm for the summer of 1948 would
be decidedly over 50°F. (10°C). If such conditions recurred for a few years,
the vegetation no doubt would change, and even spruces could well introduce
themselves. But the summer of 1948 was extreme, and the normal summer isotherm
calculated over a period of twenty years would certainly give a much lower
figure. Near Hudson Bay there were no snow patches in the middle of July. On
the Kogaluk three patches were observed; in the valley between the Kogaluk and
Payne systems, none whatsoever. Near the Payne estuary there were still some
in the middle of August, which apparently persisted from one winter to the next.
The condition of vegetation in many habitats revealed the presence of snow
patches under normal conditions, but with the exceedingly warm and dry summer
recorded, their disappearance in 1948 required no further explanation. Further–
more, the differences in climatic and physiographic conditions between the
neighborhood of Hudson Bay, the center of the peninsula, and the neighborhood
of Ungava Bay, justifies the persistence of more numerous snow patches in the
Ungava Bay region. We may assume that in the immediate vicinity of Hudson and
Ungava bays, the maritime climate allows for a greater precipitation in winter
than in the interior, say between Payne Lake and Tasiak Lake. In summer, the
proximity of the sea favors the maintenance of a lower temperature along the
Hudson Bay and Ungava Bay coasts; consequently snow patches melt easily in
the center rather than near the shore. Near the mouth of the Kogaluk, where
the climate favors the preservation of snow patches, there are practically no
sheltered places where snow could be protected. Such places are more numerous
toward Ungava Bay. The factors conditioning the accumulation and conservation
EA-PS. Rousseau: Flora and Vegetation in Quebec-Labrador
of snow patches inevitably will have some influence upon the vegetation. In
the tundra, strong winds prevail and are sometimes sever enough to prevent
canoe portage. When the sky is overcast the wind is cold, but after a few
consecutive days of sunshine the wind has the warmth of hot air from a furnace
and has a highly dehydrating capacity. This has a manifest effect upon the
lichen polygons.
Soil
. Bare rock surfaces are numerous, but the areas covered or
[:
]
by
vegetation or at least by soil predominate. Among the sediments, mention
must be made of sand and clay loams of glacial origin, and also of marine
origin. The latter are on the Hudson Bay side where at least two fossiliferous
terraces were found at the first falls of any importance, twenty miles inland
(2). No fossils were observed along terraces of the Payne estuary. If they
are of fluviomarine origin, as they appear to be, this does not necessarily
mean that they were built during an azoic period. In fact, even today, although
the Kogaluk and Payne flow through a “living” country and harbor a rich ichthyo–
logical fauna (considered from the point of view of quantityt), neither mollusk
shells nor fish skeletons were observed along the river beaches, except in the
regions of brackish estuary. In addition to the sand and clay formations of
glacial or fluviomarine origin, a thin humic soil is formed on rock by the de–
composition of vegetation. Depressions are sometimes filled with peat. Cli–
matic conditions are responsible for the following modifications of the soil;
solifluction, soil polygons, tundra ostioles, and ochreous holes.
Tundra and Peat Bogs
. Leandri in 1948 (40), following von Bulow in 19
3
^
2
^
9,
considers the tundra as a type of peat bog which receives its water from the
permafrost. It is to be noted that plants of peat bogs and the tundra are to
EA-PS. Rousseau: Flora and Vegetation in Quebec-Labrador
a certain extent the same, as for instance
Ledeum groenlandicum
and other members
of the family. If to classify a habitat as a peat bog we rely mainly on erica–
ceous elements, dry quartzite hills of Nova Scotia would be peat bogs, because
Ledum groenlandicum
and
Kalmia angustifolia
are found in such habitats as well,
accompanied by other plants such as
Drosera rotundifolia
,
D. intermedia
,
Viola
lancelo
[:
]lata
, and even
Sarracenia purpurea
, when the roots have had a chance to
establish themselves in small pockets of humid
Sphagnum
. Nor is the presence
of a subsoil of organic matter the main character, since such subsoils are found
in all the drained forests which have nothing at all to do with peat bogs.
It is often in the driest sections of the tundra that peat-bog elements
are the most characteristic. The main element on the surface in the Kogaluk and
Payne regions is often a mixture of lichens of the genus
Cladonia
which are popu–
larly known as “caribou moss.” These, with some of their associates, should be
considered as floristic elements of dry habitats rather than of peat bogs. If
they occur in peat bogs, it is only in the driest sections. Typical peat bog
normally increases in thickness, which is not the case with the tundra, where
the coat of organic matter over the permafrost is generally thin. Although
there is water in the tundra subsoil, resulting from the melting of icy loam,
the surface itself generally remains dry and more exposed to oxidation than the
permanently watered humus in peat bogs. Of course, in certain parts of the
tundra, there could be peat bogs owing to the accumulation of humus in poorly
drained depressions, but we should not lump the dry tundra with the peat bog.
The word “tundra” asks also for supplementary precision, as it really has
two meanings. It could apply to the whole of the arctic region which is destitute
of trees. In this sense, it is
[:
]^
i
^
n opposition to the forested regions and covers
EA-PS. Rousseau: Flora and Vegetation in Quebec-Labrador
all lakes, rivers, and the tidal zone, as well as arctic meadows. It is then
a region. Likewise, when considering the “boreal forest,” from a climatic
point of view and not as a forest, we include in this term the lakes, rivers,
peat bogs, and the true forest. The second meaning of tundra is that of the
localized habitat, either dry or humid, of the arctic region discussed in the
first part of this paragraph. Consequently, in the tundra considered as a
region we find the following habitats: dry and humid tundra (in the restricted
sense) peat bogs, lakes, rivers, brooks, shores, tidal flats, rocky exposures,
and so on. In this article, “tundra” is employed only in the restricted sense.
Solifluction and Marshy Areas
. The upper limit of the permafrost, in this
sector, in 1948, lies at a depth of 15 to 18 inches in the clayey areas entirely
covered by vegetation, according to Gadbois’ observations (23). When a slight
slope occurs, the surface soil with its cover of water-soaked vegetation will
slide a little after thawing. The phenomenon of solifuction is responsible for
the establishment of marshes made of the more or less parallel bands of vegeta–
tion so distinctive in appearance when viewed from the air (81).
Soil Polygons
. Of considerable interest also are the wide soil polygons,
so common south of Leaf River, but also present in the Kogaluk-Payne territory.
The oversized polygons are composed mainly of a whitish carpet of
Cladonia
sur–
rounded by a shrubby border of
Betula glandulosa, Salix
and other small scrubby
plants, like
Empetrum nigrum
and
Vaccinium vitis-idaea
var.
minus
. Their forma–
tion could well be the same as that of reticulate soils denuded of vegetation,
which consist of polygons with a border of pebbles larger than those in the
center. The steps in the construction of these polygons are apparently the fol–
lowing: The soils impregnated with water expand with the first frosts; with
the very low temperatures in winter, there is a contraction and the soil covering
EA-PS. Rousseau: Flora and Vegetation in Quebec-Labrador
is cut into polygons. With a thawing of the surface, the border of the polygon
is partly washed, in consequence of which a reticulate superficial ditch is
produced. This ditch, in the summer, favors the concentration of humidity, and
the shrubs will grow there more easily than in the dry center (78).
Tundra Ostioles
(Fig. 2). Where the soil is clayey, another phenomenon
occurs, which has some bearing on the vegetation. This results in the produc–
tion of numerous clay holes, from which, in the summer, water and plastic clay
exude. In small areas, there may be sometimes thousands of them. On account
of their resemblance, when seen from the air, with the stomata ostioles on a
surface of a leaf, the name of “tundra ostiole” was proposed (78). Their
formation could be explained as follows: when the clayey loam impregnated
with water freezes at the beginning of winter, the soil is not immediately
entirely frozen to the depth of the permafrost, but it must subsist for some
time as an unfrozen layer between two icy strata. The intermediate unfrozen
layer starts to freeze and there is a first expansion. The expansive strength
developed between the superficial layer and the pressure finds a value in the
weak spots. Some clay is pushed outside like the contents of a bottle of milk
left to freeze or a tube of tooth paste under pressure. The plants disturbed
in this area are exposed to be killed by frost. In spring, there will be a
more or less circular lifeless spot. Because the soil has no vegetation cover–
ing this spot, the soil thaws out more easily, and the water circulating between
the mud cracks will exude there, with some clay. The surface of the ostiole
is convex at first, owing to the internal pressure of the clay exudation, but
when in time it becomes concave, water accumulates in the concavity and algae
develop, mainly
EA-PS. Rousseau: Floraand Vegetation in Quebec-Labrador
|
Gloeocapsa alpicola
|
Schizothrix lacustris
|
|
Gleocystis grevillei
|
S. purcellii
|
|
Nostoc commune
|
Scytonema myochrous
|
|
N. macrosporum
|
Stigonema ocellatum
|
Among the first phanerogams to ccupy these holes is
Juncus albescens
. The
tundra ostiole, although distinct from the ingo (Possild 1938) is a related
structure.
Ochreous Holes
. Of different origin are the reddish holes in the tundra,
of common occurrence between Fort Chimo and Payne Bay, which were named
ochreous holes (78). They are absolutely lifeless and are of interest to the
vegetation from a negative point of view. Unlike tundra ostioles, the ochreous
pits are neither round nor oval, but of diverse shapes. They are not formed
on movable soil but in places where the vegetation lies directly on gneissic
rock. The superficial holes contain angular or acicular pieces of rock, and,
because of their concave nature, water. It is not easy to known whether the
saucer-shaped holes are caused by the superficial breakage of limited portions
of the mother rock, on account of its contraction in winter, but the angular
and acicular pebbles owe their origin to frost. The pits are coated with ochre
which apparently comes from the pyrotine of the subjacent rock. By oxidation,
the pyrotine gives iron oxide (the base of ochre), sulfuric acid and hydrosul–
furic acid. The acids are toxic to plants and account for the lack of vegeta–
tion. The oxidation of pyrotine is perhaps also facilitated by some micro–
organism, a point which the author has not been able to verify.
Cladonia Polygons
(Fig. 1). These polygons have nothing to do with reti–
culate soil or with the soil polygons discussed above. They have no relation
to soil modifications and are of interest only for their actual vegetation cover.
The
Cladonia
, popularly caribou moss, which constitute the most important
EA-PS. Rousseau: Flora and Vegetation in Quebec-Labrador
elements of the tundra and the taiga, form extensive whitish carpets which,
from a distance, look like a covering of snow. In the early morning, when
they are imgregnated with dew, they constitute a continuous mattress and are
as soft as moist sponges; but when the sun heats the soil they become crisp
and breakable. At the same time, with the evaporation of the dew under the
sun’s action, they contract and the carpets divide for the whole day into a
number of polygonal “tiles.” The next night, with a fresh covering of dew,
the “floor” softens and spreads out again into a continuous carpet, which
divides again when it is dried by the sun. In many places this phenomenon,
as unnoticeable as the tide, occurs daily. However, in some parts of the
tundra, in especially dry places, there is not enough condensation at night
to produce any effect. This happens particularly in places which are contin–
uously swept by a dry, warm wind. With the breaking of the crests of the tiles
and the coming of rain there will be no resultant continuous carpet of
Cladonia
,
but a rugose surface with the appearance of a gigantic piece of morocco leather.
These polygons generally have a diameter of 30 to 50 centimeters. For such
polygons, either diurnal or permanent, the name “lichen polygons” or better,
“
Cladonia polygons
” has been proposed.
Economic Plants
. Among edible plants, we find such berries as the baked–
apple (
Rubus chamaemorus
), the arctic-alpine blueberry (
Vaccinium uliginosum
),
the mountain cranberry (
V. vitis-idaea
), the rare cranberry (
V. oxycoccos
) and
in emergencies the less palatable bearberry (
Arctostaphylos alpina
) or the crow–
berry (
Empetrum nigrum
). The only edible roots are those of the alpine knot–
grass (
Polygonum viviparum
), which have a vague hazelnut flavor, and in some
other sectors perhaps, but not in the parts surveyed by the author, those of
EA-PS. Rousseau: Flora and Vegetation in Quebec-Labrador
the licorice root (
Hedysarum alpinum
), with a licorice-like flavor. The
yellow root of the woolly lousewort (
Pedicularis lanata
) is eaten much like
the carrot. Among leafy edible plants, mention must be made of the mountain
sorrel (
Oxyria digyna
), of relatively poor food value but having a delicious
acid flavor, the scurry grass (
Cochlearia groenlandica
) rich in vitamin con–
tent, and the northern fireweed (Epilobium latifolium), which may be prepared
like spinach. A common edible mushroom is
Boletus scaber
, but another species
closely related to it is regarded with some suspicion. The “tripe-de-roche”
or rock tripe (different species of
Umbilicaria
or
Gyrophora
) give a gelatin–
ous substance after boiling and cooling off, but in some instances it may be
necessary to add a pinch of sodium
of
bicarbonate to counteract its laxative
effect.
Reindeer moss (
Cladonia rangiferina
) and other
Cladonia
are good fodder
plants for the caribou (Fig. 3) and eventual herds of reindeer. Forest Indians
and Eskimos even eat the partially predigested foodstuff taken from animal
stomachs. The two species of lemmings live on the bark of the arctic birch
(
Betula glandulosa
) and other vegetable substances; being themselves the staple
food of the white fox, they are of great economic importance and in fact con–
trol the fox cycle. As indicated by the stomach contents observed, the willow
ptarmigan relies mainly upon the leaves of arctic willows as well as on berries
and other plants (55).
Fuel of vegetable origin includes the arctic birch (
Betula glandulosa
),
which because of the resinous matter in the leaves may be used even when
green; the creeping or rampant willows and alder, when dry, giving only a
rather poor flam
[:
]
and in extreme cases, lichens, although they give a thick
EA-PS. Rousseau: Flora and Vegetation in Quebec-Labrador
white smoke and burn too rapidly. For fuel, the shrubs of the tundra are
far from inexhaustible (Fig. 4). Depending solely upon them, permanent
camps with several fires burning at the same time would have some difficulty
in keeping supplied. The heads of arctic cotton (
Eriophorum
sp.) are used by
Eskimos as wicks in their soapstone oil maps. Other plants mainly
Sphagnum
are reported to be employed also for this purpose.
Coprophytic fungi
. In specimens of arctic animal dung brought back by
the author from the Kogaluk and Payne districts, R. F. Cain found the follow–
ing fungi. On the dung of Canada goose:
Ascobolus stercorarius
; on that of
the arctic hare,
Chaetomium torulosum
,
Coniochaeta leucoplaca
,
Delitschia
marchalii
,
D. anerswaldii
,
Sporormia australis
,
S. corynespora
,
S. fimetaria
;
of the lemming,
Chaetomium aureum
,
C. torulosum
,
C. cochlioides
,
C. globosum
,
C. funicolum
,
Sordaria fimicola
, and a new species belonging to an undescribed
genus; of the caribou,
Chaetomium aureum
,
C. torulosum
,
C. cochlioides
,
C. globo
–
sum
, and
Coniochaeta discospora
.
Tundra Fires
. Among the factors conditioning the tundra, none has such
importance as fire. During the day, when lichens are dry, a fire starts easily.
In only a few hours it can entirely destroy the vegetable cover and the humic
surface litter, leaving in its place bare rocks where a new crop of vegetation
will establish itself only in the course of time. It may take centuries in
some cases to return to the former stage. With the destruction of the tundra,
the disappearance of the lemming ensues, and consequently that of the white
fox, as well as that of the caribou and the ptarmigan.
Sectors of the Kogaluk and Payne Regions
If we divide the arctic zone into high-arctic and low-arctic, the low–
arctic would no doubt apply to the Quebec-Labrador peninsula. The Kogaluk
EA-PS. Rousseau: Flora and Vegetation in Quebec-Labrador
and Payne river regions could naturally be divided into the following sectors:
(
1
) entrance of the Kogaluk and adjacent territory on the Hudson Bay east
coast; (
2
) the Kogaluk from the first rapids to the head of Tasiak Lake; (
3
)
the high land between the Kogaluk and Payne river systems. (This last sector
will overlap the artificial divisions of the Kogaluk and Payne rivers, based
only on the hydrographic systems, but is convenient for the floristic invent–
tory.) (
4
) the Payne River, from the head of Payne Lake to the tidal zone;
(
5
) the Payne River and adjacent territory on Ungava Bay.
Entrance of the Kogaluk and Adjoining Coast
The localities studied were those surrounding the Povungnituk Hudson’s
Bay Company post and the mouth of the Kogaluk River, sheltered by islands
from the open water of Hudson Bay.
Halophitic Formations
. At the Povungnituk post, on beaches occasionally
covered by brackish water, are found an abundance of plants customary in such
habitats, such as:
Arenaria peploides
var.
diffusa
Elymus arenarius
var.
villosissimus
Mertensia maritima
var.
tenella
Potentilla egedii
var.
groenlandica
There are also other species having no particular halophilous affinity, and
indicating a rather low degree of salinity, such as:
Cerastium alpinum
Chrysanthemum arcticum
Matricaria inodora
var.
nana
Primula laurentiana
, which in Anticosti and along the Gaspe coast grows only
above the shore line;
Sagina saginoides
and
Papaver radicatum
, attracted by
the sandy loose soil; and
Saxifraga rivularis
f.
hyperborea
.
EA-PS. Rousseau: Flora and Vegetation
of
^
in
^
Quebec-Labrador
Permanent brackish lagoons, soaked by the sea during the spring tides,
contain two aquatic species,
Ranunculus pallasii
and
R. hyperboreus
. Cer–
tain lagoons such as the large one behind the Povungnituk post, are filled
with brackish water only in the course of spring tides, being otherwise merely
humid. There the usual species appropriate to brackish marshes or at least
saline habitats are found:
Carex lagopina
Carex subspathacea
Juncus albescens
Plantago juncoides
var.
decipiens
, f.
pygmaea
Primula egaliksensis
associated with others belonging simply to humid clay or humid soil habitats
in general. These include
|
Carex membranacea
|
Pedicularis hirsuta
|
|
C. rariflora
|
Ranunculus pedatifidus
|
|
Chrysanthemum arcticum
|
Salix arctophila
|
|
Dupontia fisheri
f.
psilosantha
|
Saxifraga cernua
|
|
Eriophorum angustifolium
|
S. foliolosa
|
|
Gentiana tenella
|
S. hirculus
|
|
Juncus arcticus
|
S. rivularis
|
|
J. castaneus
|
|
Freshwater Shores
. At the entrance of the Kogaluk, behind the screen of
islands, the huge flow from the Kogaluk washes away nearly all salinity, even
within the tidal range. The real halophilous elements are missing excepting
perhaps
Lathyrus japonicus
and to a certain degree
Primula egaliksensis
. Below
the line of the high normal level, we find:
|
Draba nivalis
|
Sagina nodosa
f.
bulbillosa
|
|
Melandryum affine
|
Saxifraga rivularis
|
|
Primula laurentiana
|
Stellaria laeta
|
|
Sagina intermedia
|
S. monantha
|
Above, between the shore line and the edge of the low bank, among the more con–
spicuous elements, where the lavender of the beach pea and the gold of the
Oxy
–
tropis
dominate, we find:
EA-PS. Rousseau: Flora and Vegetation in Quebec-Labrador
|
Armeria maritima
var.
labradorica
|
Potentilla palustris
|
|
Draba glabella
|
Primula egaliksensis
|
|
Lathyrus japonicas
|
P. laurentiana
|
|
Luzula spicata
|
Salix arctophila
|
|
Oxytropis maydelliana
|
S. cordifolia
|
|
Parnassia kotzebuei
|
Tanacetum huronense
var.
monocephalum
|
|
Pedicularis hirsuta
|
Of these plants
Lathyrus japonicus
and
Oxytropis maydelliana
have not been
found in the interior of the peninsula.
Shore Slopes
. Between the shore proper and the dry tundra lies a declivity
where the soil is naturally more crumbly and allows the growth of species found
only occasionally in the dry tundra. The most important elements of this habi–
tat are:
|
Antennaria angustata
|
P. labradorica
|
|
A. canescens
|
Phyllodoce caerulea
|
|
Astragalus alpinus
|
Polygenum viviparum
|
|
Campanula uniflora
|
Potentilla chamissonis
|
|
Eutreme edwardsii
|
P. hyparctica
|
|
Erigeron humilis
|
Pyrola grandiflora
|
|
Lycopodium annotinum
var.
pungens
|
Tanacetum huronense
var.
monocephalum
|
|
Melandryum affine
|
|
Oxytropis maydelliana
|
Taraxacum phymatocarpum
|
|
Pedicularis flammea
|
Trisetum spicatum
|
Dry Tundra
. On the top of the bank, the typical tundra of the coast begins,
as a slightly undulating meadow intermittently cut by granitic exposures. This
section of the tundra normally contains three habitats: the dry tundra, the
ponds, and the humid tundra. In the dry tundra, the base is a carpet of lichens,
mainly
Cladonia alpestris
intermixed with
Pertusaria panygera
, and other lichens
and mosses. From the carpet emerge three typ
^
e
^
s of plants: erect shrubs approx–
imately one to two feet high, prostrate shrubs, and herbaceous elements. The
most important shrubs among the tall and erect ones are:
Betula glandulosa
Ledum palustre
var.
decumbens
Salix anglorum
S. planifolia
EA-PS. Rousseau: Flora and Vegetation in Quebec-Labrador
Of these,
Betula glandulosa
is by far the most important and is the dominating
ligneous species in the tundra. The very small or completely prostrate shrubs
are:
|
Andromeda polifolia
|
Rubus chamaemorus
|
|
Arctostaphylos alpina
|
Salix reticulata
var.
semicalva
|
|
Cassiope tetragona
|
Vaccinium vitis-idaea
var.
minus
|
|
Empetrum nigrum
|
V. uliginosum
var.
alpinum
|
|
Rhododendron lapponicum
|
|
The herbaceous elements consist mainly of the following:
|
Arctagrostis latifolia
|
Luzula confusa
|
|
Arenaria rubella
|
L. groenlandica
|
|
Calamagrostis canadensis
|
Lycopodium selago
|
|
Deschampsia caespitosa
var.
littorale
|
Oxytropis terrae novae
|
|
Diapensia lapponica
|
Pinguicula vulgaris
|
|
Dryas integrifolia
|
Poa arctica
|
|
Dryopteris fragrans
|
Saxifraga oppositifolia
|
|
Dupontia fisheri
|
S. tricuspidata
|
|
Epilobium latifolium
|
Silene acaulis
var.
exscapa
|
|
Hierochloe alpina
|
Trisetum spicatum
agg.
|
Of these,
Dryopteris fragrans
is nearly restricted to the vertical faces of
rock exposures,
Arenaria rubella
is often the exclusive element of the surface
of the most sterile rocks, the
Pinguicula
grows in damp crevices of the rocks,
while in the interior it naturally grows in the muddy parts of the tundra. On
exposed rock, the normal elements are
Diapensia
, the two
Saxifragae
, and the
Silene
.
Tundra Ponds
. Of small size, outside of algae, the ponds harbor only
Hippuris vulgaris
, but this paucity of species may well be owing to local con–
ditions, as we will see by the study of inland examples. Growing among the
aquatic mosses are the following algae:
Gloeocapsa dimidiata
,
Glaucocystis
nostochinearum
, and
Synechococcus aeruginosus
. The bottoms of the shallow
ponds are frequently covered by granular masses of algae, giving the water a
special green color. In two different ponds, the algae lying under one foot
EA-PS. Rousseau: Flora and Vegetation in Quebec-Labrador
of water were: in the first pond, the association
Gloeocapsa alpicola
and
Gloedinium montanum, and, in the second pond, the association
Gloeocapsa al–picola
and
Plectonema nostocorum
.
Humid Tundra
. The lasting humidity is owing to the fact that in small
depressions the water produced by the melting of the permafrost cannot easily
escape. Nevertheless, this habitat cannot be considered as a peat bog any more
than can the dry tundra, which contains many of the peat-bog elements that are
sometimes not found in the humid sections. Here we find:
|
Bartsia alpina
|
P. lapponica
|
|
Carex miliaris
var.
major
|
Poa arctica
|
|
C. subspathacea
|
Ranunculus lapponicus
|
|
Equisetum arvense
f.
irriguum
|
Salix anglorum
|
|
Eriophorum angustifolium
|
S. herbacea
|
|
E. scheuchzeri
|
Saxifraga aizoides
|
|
Habenaria obtusata
var.
collecteana
|
Tofieldia pusilla
|
|
Pedicularis flammea
|
Vaccinium uliginosum
var.
alpinum
|
Damp rock surfaces
. On the granitic rocks over which a thin film of water
flows, algal communities occur, such as:
|
Coccochloris stagnina
f.
rupestris
|
Schizothrix lacustris
|
|
Gloeocapsa alpicola
|
Scytonema crustaceum
|
|
Nostoc commune
|
S. figuratum
|
The Kogaluk River to Tasiak Lake
The river, having an approximate length of 100 miles, may be described
as more or less a series of lakes, formed by glacial knolls which empty by
falls and rarely by rapids. Generally the narrow portion of river which unites
two lakes is rather swift, but does not itself contain any true rapids. The
shores of the Kogaluk are either narrow strips of gravelly and sandy beaches,
or accumulations of boulders, with occasional stretches of rock exposure.
These are the normal conditions at the more than twenty falls which cut the
EA-PS. Rousseau: Flora and Vegetation in Quebec-Labrador
river from its source to its mouth. On either side of the river normally
lies undulating tundra where dry formations alternate with humid formations
and rock exposures. In a few localities the shores are slightly hilly, but
with elevations rarely more than 100 or 200 feet higher than the river. In
several spots also, a vertical granitic cliff with a loose basal slope con–
stitutes a habitat inviting species of peculiar requirements. We will rapidly
pass in review the different habitats.
Flowing Water
. Only two cascular species are found in the river’s water:
Hippuris vulgaris
f.
fluviatilis
and
Ranunculus trichophyllus
f.
eradicatus
.
They constitute the occasional feathery growth found at the river’s bottom
from its mouth to the source.
Shores of the River
(Fig. 5). Inundated over a part of the year, the
shores do not harbor many elements of the grassy tundra. A few having an af–
finity for wet habitats, such as
Rubus chamaemorus
, will establish themselves
occasionally in company of sand-loving elements, such as
Arenaria rubella
,
Armeria maritima
var.
labradorica
, and
Empetrum nigrum
. These are often found
in dry habitats, but can tolerate a short annual submersion, especially before
the definite start of the growing season. Among the shore elements the most
striking feature in the 75 miles of the lower Kogaluk is the complete absence
of
Alnus
. East of this point is found the first grove of
Alnus crispa
, about
six feet high, along one of the very rare rivulets flowing into the Kogaluk.
The plant then becomes more and more common along the shoreline and the embank–
ment, where it generally ranges in height from one to three feet. Amongst the
Antennaria
, a new species
A. rousseauii
, described by A. E. Porsild (60), re–
veiled itself to be common, not only along the Kogaluk and the Payne, but also
EA-PS. Rousseau: Flora and Vegetation in Quebec-Labrador
along the George, surveyed the year before by Rousseau. No doubt it is as
common an Ungava element as
A. angustata
,
A. canescens
, and
A. isolepis
. The
flora of the shore, where
Cardamine bellidiflora
and
Tanacetum huronense
var.
monocephalum are perhaps the most characteristic elements, may be summarized
as follows:
|
Agrostis borealis
|
L. wahlenbergii
|
|
Alnus crispa
|
Lycopodium annothum
var.
pungens
|
|
Antennaria angustata
|
O
[:
]
xyria diagyna
|
|
A. canescens
|
Oxytropis terrae-novae
|
|
A. isolepis
|
Parnassia kotzebuei
|
|
Arenaria rubella
|
Poa arctica
|
|
Armeria maritima
var.
labradorica
|
Potentilla palustris
var.
parviflora
|
|
Arnica plantaginea
|
P. palustris
var.
villosa
|
|
Bartsia alpina
|
P. tridentata
|
|
Calamagrostis canadense
var.
arcta
|
Primula egaliksensis
|
|
Campanula uniflora
|
Ranunculus pygmaeus
|
|
Cardamine bellidifolia
|
R. reptans
|
|
Carex bigelowii
|
Rubus acaulis
|
|
C. bigelowiii
f.
anguillata
|
R. chamaemorus
|
|
C. brunnescens
|
Salix arctophila
|
|
C. lagopina
var.
debilis
|
S. cordifolia
var.
callicarpaea
|
|
C. rariflora
|
S. herbacea
|
|
C. tenuiflora
|
S. planifolia
|
|
Cassiope hypnoides
|
S. reticulata
var.
semicalva
|
|
Cerastium alpinum
|
Saxifraga cespitosa
f.
uniflora
|
|
C. berringianum
|
S. hirculus
|
|
Deschampsia caespitosa
|
Sibbaldia procumbens
|
|
D. flexuosa
|
Silene acaulis
var.
exscapa
|
|
Elymus arenarius
var.
villosus
|
Solidago macrophylla
var.
thyrsoidea
|
|
Empetrum nigrum
|
Stellaria crassipes
|
|
Erigeron humilis
|
Tanacetum huronense
var.
monocephalum
|
|
Festuca brachyphylla
|
Taraxacum ceratophorum
|
|
Gnaphalium supinum
|
T. lacerum
|
|
Hierochloe alpina
|
Trisetum spicatum
agg.
|
|
Juncus filiformis
var.
pusillus
|
Vaccinium uliginosum
var.
alpinum
|
|
Luzula groelandica
|
V. vitis-idaea
var.
minus
|
|
|
Veronica alpina
var.
unalaschensis
|
In a spring oozing from the gravelly shores, the algal flora contains among
other species,
Microspora stagnorum
and
Mougeotia parvula
. Although lichens,
for the major part, are plants of dry habitats,
Buellia occidentalis
(which
grows also on the humid ostioles as well as on dry granitic rocks), is a common
EA-PS. Rousseau: Flora and Vegetation in Quebec-Labrador
species on boulders of the shore submerged under one to three feet of water
during the spring and the first part of summer. Also
Cetaria hepatizon
is a
common inhabitant of the undersides of the shore-line boulders. The bryophytic
flora of the gneissic and granitic rocks of the shore contains
Tetraplodon
mniodes
.
Shore Embankment
. Many of the preceding species may grow on shore embank–
ments and are not necessarily characteristic of the low areas. Such is the
case with species of the preceding list belonging to the generae
Alnus, Anten–naria, Armeria, Arnica, Erigeron, Lycopodium, Oxytropis, Oxyria, Parnassia,
Rubus, Salix, Sibbaldia, Trisetum
, and
Vernoica
, which contain the majority of
the species in the preceding list. Accompanying these are
Arctostaphylos alpina
,
Carex capitata
,
Phyllodoce coerulea
, and some others which are simply escaping
from the dry tundra crowning the bank. The species most typical of embankments
are:
|
Astragalus alpinus
|
P. lapponica
|
|
Campanula uniflora
|
Polygonum viviparum
|
|
Cornus suedica
|
Potentilla hyparctica
|
|
Dryopteris fragrans
|
Primula laurentiana
|
|
Epilobium angustifolium
f.
intermedium
|
Saxifraga rivularis
|
|
Equisetum arvense
var.
boreale
|
Senecio palustris
var.
congestus
|
|
Luzula wahlenbergii
|
Stellaria calycantha
|
|
Papaver radicatum
|
Taraxacum lapponicum
|
|
Pedicularis flammea
|
|
Of these,
Papaver radicatum
, the
Primula
, and
Senecio palustris
var.
congestus
do not apparently penetrate more than twenty miles into the interior. Sometimes
the shore embankments are almost devoid of vegetation, showing only a few green
spots where
Betula glandulosa
dominates.
Dry Tundra in the Lowlands
. This is approximately the same as the tundra
in the maritime district at the entrance of the Kogaluk, but some elements like
Oxytropis maydelliana
are definitely absent. The shrubs are the thirteen species
EA-PS. Rousseau: Flora and Vegetation in Quebec-Labrador
already mentioned for the entrance of the Kogaluk, with
Betula glandulosa
dominating and accompanied by such important additions as
Ledum groelandicum
,
Salix herbacea
,
S. uva-ursi
and
S. brachycarpa
(Fig. 6). The more or less
herbaceous elements are mainly:
|
Bartsia alpina
|
Lycopodium selago
|
|
Campanula uniflora
|
Pedicularis Flammea
|
|
Carex bigelowii
|
Phyllodoce coerulea
|
|
C. capitata
|
Polygonum viviparum
|
|
C. holostoma
|
Pyrola grandiflora
|
|
Cassiope hypnoides
|
Rubus chamaemorus
|
|
Cornus suecica
|
Saxifraga cernua
|
|
Diapensia lapponica
|
S. tricuspidata
|
|
Dryas integrifolia
|
Silene acaulis
var.
exscapa
|
|
Epilobium latifolium
|
Taraxacum umbrinum
|
|
Equisetum arvense
var
. boreale
|
Tofieldia pusilla
|
|
Eriophorum rousseauianum
|
Veronica alpina
var.
unalaschensis
|
|
E. spissum
|
Among these elements of the dry tundra, we notice such plants as the
Eriophorum
which normally belong to moist habitats. This may be explained as follows:
Cladonia alpestris
C. coccifera
and other lichens such as:
Electoria ochroleuca
Cetraria nivalis
and
Icmadophila ericetorum
, and among phanerogams,
Saxifraga tricuspidata
,
Diapensia lapponica
, and
Silene acaulis
. It is also a wet habitat to plants
which, like
Eriophoru
[: l
]m
, have a root system penetrating deeply into the soil,
to a depth where the icy subsoil, continuously melting, creates a marshy condi–
tion.
Boletus scaber
is the most common mushroom in the tundra, and
Amanitopsis
vaginata
is also frequent.
Highland Exposures
. The highlands are only rocky hills about 100 to 200
feet higher than the river. They are partly the same as those mentioned in
EA-PS. Rousseau: Flora and Vegetation in Quebec-Labrador
the preceding paragraph, except that we must draw attention to the presence
^[:
]^
of
species, such as
Cardamine bellidifolia
, which are quite an important
element along sandy shores, and a few species which have not been found near
the Hudson Bay shore. An example of these last is
Anemone richardsoni
. The
plants of rocky hills are:
|
Anemone richardsoni
|
Festuca brachyphlla
|
|
Arenaria humifusa
|
Hierochloe alpina
|
|
Antennaria angustata
|
Juncus albescens
|
|
Calamagrostis canadensis
|
Luzula confusa
|
|
Cardamine bellidifolia
|
L. parviflora
|
|
Cerastium alpinum
|
L. wahlenbergii
|
|
Carex bigelowii
|
Pedicularis lapponica
|
|
C. brunnescens
|
Poa arctica
|
|
C. capitata
|
P. glauca
|
|
C. saxatilis
|
Potentilla chamissonis
|
|
C. saxatilis
var.
laxa
(syn.
C. procerula
)
|
Phyllodoce caerulea
|
|
|
Pyrola grandiflora
|
|
Cassiope tetragona
|
Salix herbacea
|
|
Cystopteris fragilis
|
S. planifolia
|
|
Diapensia lapponica
|
Saxifraga foliolosa
|
|
Draba fladnizensis
|
S. rivularis
|
|
Dryopteris fragrans
|
S. nivalis
|
|
Epilobium angustifolium
f.
intermedium
|
Silene acaulis
var.
exscapa
|
|
|
Solidago macrophylla
var.
thyrosoidia
|
|
Eriophorum spissum
|
Taraxacum lacerum
|
|
Euphrasia arctica
|
Vaccinium uliginosum
var.
pubescens
|
On humid hills two important mosses are
Preissia quadrata
and
Sphagnum girgen–sohnii
.
Humid Tundra
. Many of the elements of the dry tundra will likewise appear
in this section, mainly
Rhododendron lapponicum
,
Andromeda polifolia
,
Vaccinium
uliginosum
, and
Salix planifolia
,-but the most characteristic elements in the
humid sections of the tundra are:
|
Agrostis borealis
|
E. spissum
|
|
Arnica plantaginea
|
Habenaria obtusata
var.
collectanea
|
|
Bartsia alpina
|
Pinguiscula villosa
|
|
Carex rotundata
|
P. vulgaris
|
|
C. salina
|
Potentilla Palustris
var.
villosa
|
|
C. tenuiflora
|
Rhododendron lapponicum
|
|
Cornus suecica
|
Salix arctophila
|
|
Eriophorum angustifolium
|
Tofieldia pusilla
|
EA-PS. Rousseau: Flora and Vegetation in Quebec-Labrador
Humid Slopes at the Base of Cliffs
. Different from the humid parts of
the low tundra are the gravelly slopes at the base of cliffs or under a neve,
from which water continuously oozes. Some of the elements are those of the
shore embankment, probably because that habitat, as far as irrigation goes,
is about the sam^e^
;e
others are typical of the rocky exposures. On account of
the crevices through which water continually trickles, some of these gravelly
slopes are really moist habitats. Here are the main species:
|
Anemone richardsoni
|
Pedicularis lapponica
|
|
Cardamine bellidifolia
|
Petasites palmatus
|
|
Cerastium alpinum
|
Pinguicula villosa
|
|
C. arvense
|
Poa arctica
|
|
Cystopteris fragilis
|
Ranunculus nivalis
|
|
Draba nivalis
|
R. pygmaeus
|
|
Luzula confusa
|
Rubus acaulis
|
|
L. wahlenbergii
|
Saxifraga cernua
|
|
Lycopodium selago
|
S. rivularis
|
|
Oxyria digyna
|
Veronica alpina
var.
unalaschensis
|
Tundra Ponds
. Compared with the small ponds studied at the entrance of
the Kogaluk, the tundra ponds here are richer and contain:
|
Carex aquatilis
var.
stans
|
R. gmelini
var.
hookeri
|
|
Hippuris vulgaris
|
Sparganium hyperboreum
|
|
Ranunculus pallasii
|
Utricularia ochroleuca
|
Among algae are found
Gloeocapsa dimidiata
and
Ophrydium
sp. parasitized by
Zoochlorella parasitica
. In the muddy sections,
Plectonema nostocorum
,
Ana–cystis firma
and
Desmonema wrangelii
grow amongst decaying
Stigonema
. In places
Gloeocystis grevillei
may cover the surface of the dried ponds, while the liver–
wort
Gymnocolea inflata
grows in the ponds.
Alpine Gullies
. In a way, the flora of these is somewhat related to that
of low shore embankments, and of the tundra itself. Some elements, however, like
Epilobium hornemanni
,
Cardamine pratensis
var.
angustifolia
,
Carex lagopina
, and
Solidago macrophylla
var.
thyrsoidea
, seem to show a preference for this type of
EA-PS. Rousseau: Flora and Vegetation in Quebec-Labrador
habitat where snow lasts longer, and which, in the absence of real brooks,
may constitute an outlet for the tundra toward the main stream. If there is
a flowing rivulet, its bed is generally occupied by
Viola pallens
. Some of
these inland depressions are true centers of accumulated snow. The flora
starts developing only late in the season although sometimes the area becomes
quite dry. The species which will accept such adverse conditions most easily
are:
|
Agrostis borealis
|
Ranunculus allenii
|
|
Antennaria rousseauii
|
Salix anglorum
|
|
Carex canescens
|
Solidago macrophylla
var.
thyrsoidea
|
|
C. lagopina
|
|
C. miliaris
|
Stellaria calycantha
|
|
Cardamine pratensis
var.
palustris
|
Tanacetum huronense
var.
monocephalum
|
|
Cerastium beringianum
|
|
Pedicularis lapponica
|
Trisetum spicatum
|
|
Rubus acaulis
|
|
The characteristic algae of the alpine gullies in rivulets are
Lyngbya ochracea
(also found at Fort Chimo in the same habitat),
Microspora stagnorum
,
Zygnema
leiospermum
, and species of
Mougeotia
and
Spirogyra
, both sterile at the moment
of gathering. Among funi,
Panixa corium
grows in the grassy formations.
Eskers
. A very specialized habitat is the esker, consisting of loose soil
exposed to the sun on both sides, and therefore an exceedingly dry habitat. The
number of species harbored there is very small, and in some instances on the
summit there are hardly more than a dozen. The most characteristic are:
|
Arctostaphylos alpina
|
Oxytropis terrae-novae
|
|
Betula glandulosa
|
Pedicularis labradorica
|
|
Carex bigelowii
|
Salix uva-ursi
|
|
C. capitata
|
Vaccinium uliginosum
var.
alpinum
|
|
Empetrum nigrum
|
V. vitis-idaea
var.
minus
|
In these habitats,
Betula glandulosa
is very small in stature except on the
slopes (Fig. 3).
EA-PS. Rousseau: Flora and Vegetation in Quebec-Labrador
Height of land between the Kogaluk and Payne rivers
Between Lake Tasiak and the source of the Kogaluk, and the large Payne
Lake, some 60 miles long, there were about 25 miles to portage (Fig. 7). The
fact that the canoes were put to use more than 30 times during this interval
indicates that the country is cut by numerous lakes, and also by small streams.
Some stretches of water were no more than a few hundred feet long, but a couple
extended for two or three miles. The whole region is occupied by low hills
separated by valleys offering a decrease in height from approximately 300 to
100 feet. The flora is almost the same as along the Kogaluk, and we found
habitats which approximately correspond to the humid or dry shores, shore em–
bankment, dry and humid tundra, and, in great abundance, rocky gneissic ex–
posures. Nevertheless, many species were found which were not previously noted
along the Kogaluk. This could be attributed to the fact that this lengthy
portage, lasting over five days, allowed a more exhaustive sampling of the
flora. The new elements from the shores of small lakes were:
|
Antennaria ungavensis
|
C. lagopina
|
|
Carex williamsii
|
Eriophorum angustifolium
|
In the dry tundra
Loiseleuria procumbens
and
Taraxacum hyperboreum
were observed.
On the humid slope, where formations of
Linnaea borealis
and
Lycopodium complana–tum
and the violets appeared as advanced outposts of the subarctic habitats, the
following were found:
|
Calamagrostis canadensis
var.
arcta
|
Linnaea borealis
var.
americana
|
|
Carex lagopina
|
|
C. norvegica
var.
inserrulata
|
Lycopodium complanatum
var.
canadense
|
|
C. saltuensis
|
|
C. saxatilis
|
Scirpus caespitosus
var.
callesus
|
|
Deschampsia atropurpurea
|
|
Juncus biglumis
|
Viola labradorica
|
|
J. castaneus
|
V. selkirkii
|
And finally on rocky exposures,
Woodsia ilvensis
.
EA-PS. Rousseau: Flora and Vegetation in Quebec-Labrador
Among the noteworthy algae in the ponds are
Plectonema nostocorum
,
Schizo–thrix lamyi
and
Stigonema panniforme
.
Zygnema stellinum
is an element of the swift brooklets. The depressions
of the old clayey ostioles contain:
|
Gloeocapsa alpicola
|
Nostoc macrosporum
|
|
Gloeocystis grevillei
|
Schizothrix purcellii
|
On the humid slope of mountains,
Ankistrodesmus spiralis
grows with
Dicho–thrix orsiniana
and
Zygnema
sp.
Lichens are particularly abundant in this habitat.
Buellia occidentalis
is to be noted on the humid clayey ostioles, while the following are found in
the dry tundra:
|
Alectoria jubata
|
C. coccifera
|
|
A. ochroleuca
|
Dactylina arctica
|
|
Cetraria islandica
|
Nephroma arcticum
|
|
C. nivalis
|
Sphaerophorus fragilis
|
|
Cladonia alpestris
|
Stereocaulon alpinum
|
|
C. mitis
|
|
On humid slopes of hills we find:
|
Cladonia coccifera
|
Psoroma hypnorum
|
|
C. gracilis
var.
chordalis
|
Solorina crocea
|
|
Nephroma arcticum
|
Stereocaulon alpinum
|
On the granitic rocks in the tundra are:
|
Cetraria hiascens
|
Haematomma lapponicum
|
|
Cladonia amaurocraea
|
Parmelia centrifuga
|
|
C. bellidiflora
|
Umbilicaria hyperborea
|
In the bryophytic flora of this area, are found among other species, in
the dry tundra,
Rhacomitrium lanuginosum
, and on humid slopes of hills, the fol–
lowing:
EA-PS. Rousseau: Flora and Vegetation in Quebec-Labrador
|
Aulacomnium palustre
|
Lophozia ventricosa
|
|
Barbilophozia hatcheri
|
Pleurozium schreberi
|
|
Blepharostoma tricophyllum
|
Pohlia nutans
|
|
Calliergonella sarmentosum
|
Polytrichum juniperinum
var.
alpestre
|
|
C. schreberi
|
|
Drepanocladus uncinatus
|
Preissia quadrata
|
|
Dicranum bonjeani
|
Ptilidium cilliare
|
|
D. elongatum
|
Sphagnum compactum
|
|
D. fuscescens
|
S. girgensohnii
|
|
D. scoparium
|
S. robustum
|
|
Fissidens osmundioides
|
Sphenolobus minutes
|
|
|
Temmoma setiforme
|
In the humid border of lakes and ponds are:
|
Calliergon sarmentosum
|
Pohlia drummondii
|
|
C. stramineum
|
Preissia quadrata
|
|
Drepanocladus aduncus
var.
typicus
|
Scapania paludora
|
|
D. exannulatus
|
Sphagnum squarrosum
|
|
D. uncinatus
var.
typicus
|
Sphenolobus minutus
|
|
Pogonatum alpinum
|
|
Payne River from Source to Estuarine Zone
This area of the country appears in the interior as a plateau, a few feet
above the river, but even when the river approaches the coast and becomes lower
in altitude, the plateau keeps more or less to its old level (Figs 8 and 9). The
flora does not differ essentially from that already observed along the Payne and
in the territory lying between the Kogaluk and the Payne, if we note the fact
that
Alnus crispa
and
Betula glandulosa
become more and more luxuriant as we pro–
ceed eastwards towards Ungava Bay, except below the estuary where they practically
disappear. Another fact also is the presence of more temperate elements such as:
Dryopteris disjuncta
Equisetum sylvaticum
var.
pauciramosum
Galium labradoricum
Petasites palmatus
Ribes glandulosum
Vaccinium caespitosum
EA-PS. Rousseau: Flora and Vegetation in Quebec-Labrador
Other noteworthy species not previously listed for the Kogaluk system
include the following, growing on gravelly or sandy flats and rare sand dunes:
|
Arabis arenicola
|
Carex bicolor
|
|
Arenaria groenlandica
|
Epilobium glandulosum
|
|
Calamagrostis lacustris
|
E. palustre
|
|
C. neglecta
|
Potentilla tridentate
|
|
Campanula rotundifolia
|
Stellaria laeta
|
Growing under
Alnus crispa
groves six to eight feet high on humid soil are:
|
Carex miliaris
var.
aurea
|
Senecio pauciflorus
var.
atropurpureus
|
|
Coptis groenlandica
|
|
Sagina linnaei
|
Vaccinium oxycoccos
|
On humid shores are:
|
Chrysosplenium tetrandrum
|
Stellaria longipes
and f.
humilis
|
|
Eleocharis acicularis
|
|
Pedicularis groenlandica
|
S. monantha
and ssp.
atlantica
|
|
Ranunculus hyperboreus
|
S. subvestita
|
Arctagrostis latifolia
grows in tundra depression as well as on the shoreline,
while
Deschampsia atropurpurea
inhabits gneissic shores. In dry tundra,
Carex
rupestris
grows amid
Cladonia
, and the fairly common
Pedicularis labradorica
with occasional
Oxytropis terrae-novae
,
Carex membranacea
borders cool brooks,
C. scirpoidea
covers the dry
roche moutonne
^
e
^
,
Sagina caespitosa
grows in associa–
tion with
Juncus albescens
in the clayey ostioles previously described.
Euphrasia
arctica
and
Dupontia fisheri
f.
micrantha
grow together on the littoral line.
Cerastium alpinum
is found in the different habitats from the shore to the dry
tundra. The sandy or gravelly habitats support three varieties of
Calamagrostis
canadensis
(var.
arcta
, var.
robusta
, var.
scabra
),
Antennaria rousseauii
abounds
along dry shores and alternates with the extensive formations of
Eriophorum
scheuchzeri
in the humid parts. Sometimes a sandy, humid shore is covered with a
thin, peaty bed in which
Ranunculus lapponicus
freely establishes itself. Of the
shore elements,
Papaver radicatum
, not seen in the interior, reappears a few miles
EA-PS. Rousseau: Flora and Vegetation in Quebec-Labrador
above the brackish estuary.
Tanacetum huronense
, a characteristic element
along the Kogaluk, is absent here. in the river itself, to a depth of four
to eight feet, long threads of
Hippuris vulgaris
f.
fluviatilis
and
Ranunculus
s
trichophllus
, the latter reaching many feet in length, color parts of the
normally white bed a dark green, as seen through the clear water.
Ranunculus
trichophyllus flowers well even under water, and the petals carried away by
the current accumulate in some places and form a long band, several inches in
width, along the shoreline.
In this territory are found the following algae in the thin film of water
flowing on the granitic
roche moutonee
:
|
Calothrix parietina
|
Stigonema panniforme
|
|
Gloeocapsa alpicola
|
Synechococcus aeruginosus
|
In cold springs filled with
Sphagnum
, mixed with sterile
Mougeotia
,
Spirogyra
, and
Zygnema
, occur
Microspora stagnorum
and
Palmodictyon viride
.
On the still submerged or emerging shore grow:
|
Entophysalis brebissonii
|
Schizothrix purcelli
|
|
Microspora stagnorum
|
Scytonema figuratum
|
|
Mougeotia elegantula
|
Stigonema panniforme
|
In the tundra ponds grow sterile
Mougeotia
and
Osdogonium
, with
Microspora
stagnorum
and
Oocystis solitaria
. Finally on the boulders and caribou horns
in dry habitats occur:
Protococcus viridis
Stichococcus bacillaris
S. subtilis
Among the fungi,
Boletus scaber
is the common mushroom of the dry tundra,
growing with
Calvatia cretacea
and
Omphalia fibuloides
. On the sandy elevations
there occurs
Lycoperdon umbrinum
, and on the humid sandy shore,
Humarina
sp.
(apparently a new species).
EA-PS. Rousseau: Flora and Vegetation in Quebec-Labrador
The main lichens encountered in the dry tundra are
Cladonia gracilis
var.
elongata
,
Dactylyna arctica
, and those previously mentioned (in similar
habitats); and, on the granitic rocks of the tundra,
|
Buellia occidentalis
|
Umbilicaria cylindrica
|
|
Parmelia centrifuga
|
U. hyperborea
|
|
P. omphaloides
|
U. torrefacta
|
|
Rhizocarpon geographicum
|
|
To elements of the bryophytic flora already mentioned for other parts
of the territory must be added
Polytrichum piliferum
, growing on sandy embank–
ments of the river with
Pogonatum capillare
.
Sphagnum lindberggii
is found on the gneissic rocks and
Dicranoweizia
crispula
on humid slopes in the tundra.
Payne River Estuary
From the mouth of the Payne, in Kayak Bay, to the point where the tidal
current flows inland, the distance is approximately fifty miles. At this point
there is no trace of rapids at high tides, at which time the shore is submerged
under brackish water. Beyond this brackish shore lies a zone seldom attained
by high water, and beyond this a rocky bank, the crest of which is covered by
tundra when it is not simply a rocky exposure consisting of ferruginous schists
or serpentine. On either shore of the river the hills reach a few hundred feet
in height, and bear scattered snow patches which ordinarily last from one winter
to another (Fig. 10).
Tidal Zone
. Only a few plants inhabit this zone, and some of them do not
belong exclusively to this habitat. This, for instance, is the case of
Armeria
maritima
var.
labradorica
, usually a plant of sandy areas, and
Cardamine belli–difolia
, a common species of the river shores in the interior. In their company
grow
Arenaria peploides
var.
diffusa
,
Carex glareosa
,
Cochlearia officinalis
var.
EA-PS. Rousseau: Flora and Vegetation in Quebec-Labrador
arctica
,
Plantago juncoides
var.
decipiens
,
Puccinellia phryganodes
,
Poa alpina
,
Stellaria crassifolia
, and occasionally
Arctogrostis latifolia
. In the normally
submerged brackish habitat, the most noteworthy algae seem to be
Cladophora
glomerata
,
Entocladia polymorpha
, and
Entophysalis brebissonii
.
Shore Above the Tidal Zone
. Above the ordinary tidal zone lies a section
of the shore which is only occasionally reached by water. This usually occurs
during the high spring tides or after the breakup of ice when the level of the
river is very high. It is difficult in such circumstances to judge whether the
action of the brackish water has much influence there. In some sectors the
beach is habitally humid, and harbors:
|
Anemone parviflora
|
Juncus albescens
|
|
Arnica plantaginea
|
J. castaneus
|
|
Carex atrofusca
|
Parnassia kotzebuei
|
|
C. membranacea
|
Salix arctophila
|
|
C. norvegica
var.
inserrulata
|
S. calcicola
|
|
C. rotundata
|
S. reticulata
var.
semicalva
|
|
Equisetum variegatum
|
Saxifraga oppositifolia
|
Of the preceding the
Arnica
is frequently infested by
Sphaerotheca humuli
var.
fuliginea
. On humid clayey slopes of terraces, the dominant element is
Sibbaldia
procumbens
, at times associated with
Epilobium anagallidifolium
and
Caloplaca
subolivacea
, a lichen. On sandy or schistous shores, just above the littoral line,
we usually find
Cerastium alpinum
,
C. arvense
,
Melandrium affine
, and
Puccinellia
phryganodes
. On the
roche moutonnee
of the shore but higher than the tidal zone,
an interesting fungus is
Paxina sulcata
, with abundant
Alectoria ochroleuca
, a lichen.
The rocky shore is generally formed of a gneissic
roche moutonnee
or a soft
green schist. The formations are here much richer than inequivalent habitats
along the Kogaluk or the Payne above the estuary, as may be judged from the fol–
lowing list:
EA-PS. Rousseau: Flora and Vegetation in Quebec-Labrador
|
Antennaria angustata
|
Luzula confusa
|
|
A. canescens
|
Melandrium affine
|
|
Arabis alpina
|
Oxyria digyna
|
|
A. arenicola
|
O. foliolosa
|
|
Arenaria rubella
|
O. podocarpa
|
|
Arnica plantaginea
|
Papaver radicatum
|
|
Astragalus alpinus
|
Parnassia kotzebuei
|
|
A. eucosmus
|
Pedicularis hirsuta
|
|
Campanula rotundifolia
|
P. flammea
|
|
C. uniflora
|
Poa alpina
|
|
Cardamine bellidiflora
|
P. glauca
|
|
Carex lagopina
|
Potentilla hyparctica
|
|
C. langeana
|
P. nivea
|
|
C. maritima
|
Puccinellia paupercula
|
|
C. nardina
|
Ranunculus pedatifidus
var.
leiocarpus
|
|
C. norvegica
var.
inserrulata
|
|
C. rupestris
|
Rhododendron lapponicum
|
|
Cerestium alpinum
|
Salix calcicola
|
|
C. beringianum
|
S. reticulata
var.
semicalva
|
|
C. cerastoides
|
Saxifraga caespitosa
|
|
Cochlearia officinalis
var.
groenlandica
|
S. cernua
|
|
S. nivalis
|
|
Cystopteris fragilis
|
S. oppositifolia
|
|
Draba glabella
var.
typica
and
var.
brachycarpa
|
S. rivularis
|
|
S. tricuspidata
|
|
D. nivallis
|
Silene acaulis
var.
exscapa
|
|
Dryas integrifolia
|
Stellaria laeta
|
|
Dryopteris fragrans
|
S. longipes
|
|
Erigeron humilis
|
Taraxacum ceratophorum
|
|
Euphrasia arctica
|
T. lacerum
|
|
Eutrema edwardsii
|
Trisetum spicatum
|
|
Gentiana tenalla
|
|
As the rocky shore is generously supplied
[:
] with water percolating from above,
some elements from the ordinary wet habitats succeed here as well. The
Gentiana
mentioned above is the diminutive form of
Gentiana tenella
described by Aven
Nelson as
G. monantha
. It grows in grassy mats above the shore.
The lichen flora contains, among other species:
|
Caloplaca elegans
|
Stereocaulon denudatum
|
|
Lecanora contractula
|
Umbilicaria hyperborea
|
|
L. polytropa
f.
ecrustacea
|
|
and in the bryophytic flora such a universal species as
Ceratodon purpureus
.
EA-PS. Rousseau: Flora and Vegetation in Quebec-Labrador
Of all habitats surveyed in the Payne and Kogaluk rivers, this is doubtless
the richest in number of species, but surprisingly enough it does not seem to
suit
Betula glandulosa
and
Alnus crispa
. Furthermore, of the dominant species
at the entrance of the Kogaluk,
Lathyrus japonicus
and
Oxytropis maydelliana
seem to be completely absent here.
The cracks of the quartz blocks on the shore are filled by a gelatinous
cement of a metallic blue-green color containing the following algal association:
|
Gloeocapsa alpicola
|
Schizothrix lacustris
|
|
Nostoc microscopicum
|
Stigonema minutum
|
Rocky Highlands
. The rocky highlands comprise four types. The one of
serpentine does not apparently harbor any special plant not found in the vicinity,
on green schists or ferruginous exposures. In addition to this type of rock,
there are to be considered the schistose hills, the cliffs of finely broken
schists, and the ferruginous exposures.
The flora of the schistose hills is for the greater part a repetition of
elements along the rocky shore beyond ordinary tidal influence, with a few excep–
tions such as
Oxytropis podocarpa
, which is here missing. The
Astragalus
,
Cam–panula
,
Draba
,
Saxifraga
,
Silene
,
Pedicularis
, and
Ranunculus
listed above, as
well as
Carex nardina
,
C. rupestris
,
Oxytropis foliolosa
, and
Potentilla nivea
are all common. The dominating shrubs are:
|
Rhododendron lapponicum
|
S. herbacea
|
|
Salix cordifolia
|
S. uva-ursi
|
Among the herbaceous elements where
Saxifraga aizoon
and
Carex scirpoides
tend
to dominate, while
Kobresia myosuroides
is of extremely rare occurrence, the
following seem to be restricted to the highlands in this sector:
EA-PS. Rousseau: Flora and Vegetation in Quebec-Labrador
|
Arenaria rossii
|
P. lapponica
|
|
Bartsia alpina
|
Sagina caespitosa
|
|
Carex scirpoidea
|
Saxifraga aizoon
var.
neogaea
f.
frigida
|
|
Draba fladnizensis
|
|
Kobresia myosuroides
|
Taraxacum umbrinum
|
|
Pedicularis lanata
|
Tofieldia pusilla
|
|
|
Woodsia glabella
|
On broken schist, none of the endemic species found in equivalent habitats
at Mont Saint-Pierre in Gaspe Peninsula appear to occur. Of the elements found
here which are widely disperse,
Equisetum arvense
var.
boreale
is the most uni–
formly distributed. In some sections
Draba rupestris
dominates, and, in others,
Cerastium cerastoides
. Additional species characteristic of this habitat are:
|
Carex lagopina
|
Koenigia islandica
|
|
C. lagopina
var.
debilis
|
Poa alpina
|
|
Catabrosa algida
|
Luzula spicata
|
|
Cerastium alpinum
|
Ranunculus hyperboreus
|
|
Euphrasia arctica
|
R. nivalis
|
At the base of these broken schists is a zone of drainage where the algal
association contains:
Schizothrix
heufleri
,
S. purcellii
,
Stigonema panniforme
,
with, as associates, the bryophytes
Calliergon sarmentosum
,
Grimmia apocarpa
var.
alpicola
, and
Marchantea polymorpha
.
On rusty colored ferruginous hills, in addition to the common
Saxifraga
oppositifolia
, are a few species which, although they are apparently absent
from other rocky exposures, are so abundant just here that they give the habi–
tat a distinctive aspect. They are:
|
Arenaria humifusa
|
Draba alpina
|
|
A. rubella f. epilis
|
D. fladnizensis
var.
|
|
Braya purpurascens
|
heterotricha
|
With them grow the lichens
Buellia discoensis
and
Caloplaca elegans
.
Dry Tundra
. In general the tundra bordering Payne estuary differs by
only a few elements from that found in the interior. The shrubs are normally
the same species. As for the herbaceous elements, many of those which, along
EA-PS. Rousseau: Flora and Vegetation in Quebec-Labrador
the Kogaluk and the upper part of the Payne, were restricted to rocky exposures,
here occupy flat lowlands. This is probably owing to the fact that the region
is quite hilly and the habitats not distinctly marked. To the species already
mentioned for the tundra in the interior, one may add the following:
|
Carex misandra
|
P. lapponica
|
|
Eutrema edwardsii
|
Pyrola grandiflora
|
|
Juncus trifidus
|
Saxifraga nivalis
|
|
Kobresia myosuroides
|
Stellaria crassipes
|
|
Pedicularis lanata
|
|
Of these,
Eutrema
and
Pedicularis lanata
are rather common, though more or less
scattered as individual elements.
Pyrola grandiflora
is more common.
Lycopodium
selago
was so common hereabouts that one day a few children made, without dif–
ficulty, a collection
[]
of some twenty-five pounds of the plant for a chemical
analysis. On the south side of the Payne estuary, the slope is made up of three
or four succeeding terraces, where the vegetation, without necessarily being that
of a humid habitat, is at least partially protected from drought. The carpet is
of a more spongy texture.
Salix vestita
is the dominating shrub and there is an
abundant growth of
Astragalus alpinus
,
A. eucosmus
, and luxuriant
Oxytropis
foliolosa
. In the depressions of the old tundra ostioles,
Juncus albescens
is
accompanied by the following algae:
|
Gloeocapsa alpicola
|
Schizothrix lacustris
|
|
Gloeocystis grevillei
|
Scytonema myochrous
|
|
Nostoc commune
|
Stigonema ocellatum
|
Botetus seaber
and
Calvatia cretacea
are frequent fungi here.
Humid Tundra
. In humid parts, and especially along the small rivulets in
the tundra, the elements are about the same as those on the shore of the Payne
River itself, with the addition
[]
of a number from the dry tundra.
Carex misandra
is much more common here.
Chrysosplenium tetrandrum
and
Saxifraga rivularis
EA-PS. Rousseau: Flora and Vegetation in Quebec-Labrador
sometimes form nearly pure formations very locally. Other characteristic
species are the following:
|
Arctagrostis latifolia
|
Phyllodoce coerulea
|
|
Carex atrofusca
|
Potentilla hyparctica
|
|
Cassiope hypnoides
|
Ranunculus hyperboreus
|
|
Cerastium alpinum
|
Salix brachycarpa
|
|
C. arvense
|
S. calcicola
|
|
Eriophorum angustifolium
|
S. reticulate
var.
semicalva
|
|
Festuca brachyphylla
|
Silene acaulis
var.
exscapa
|
|
Juncus trifidus
|
Stellaria longipes
f.
humilis
|
|
Luzula wahlenbergii
|
Taraxacum umbrinum
|
In the marshy parts,
Utricularia minor
and
U. ochroleuca
predominate, and
in ponds we find, amongst the algae,
Scenedesmus obliquus
and
Tolypothrix lanata
.
It is curious to note the effect of drought on certain tundra ponds sit–
uated at the level of the spring tides and receiving the brackish water to become
temporary lagoons.
Hippuris vulgaris
var.
maritima
continues to grow luxuriantly
along with
Cardamine pratensis
,
Carex raeana
(dedicated to the arctic explorer
John Rae (1813-1893) and probably the rarest
Carex
of Ungava),
Koenigia islandica
,
and
Dupontia fisheri
var.
aristata
, while simultaneously
Draba fladnizensis
in–
vades the bottom where it is covered with the dry crusty remains of algae.
II. THE HEMIARCTIC ZONE
Definition
. The tundra is characterized by the complete absence of trees,
all the ligneous elements being limited to shrubs of small stature. The taiga
is a forest, but with trees widely dispersed and a soil covering mainly of lichens.
The trees generally are of no commercial importance, and the whole formation gives
the impression of a park rather than of a true forest. Between the tundra and
the taiga, in the Quebec-Labrador Peninsula, lies a wide strip of land, approx–
imately three hundred miles in width, where tundra patches alternate with taiga
bands. To be more precise, the highlands are covered by the tundra, while the
EA-PS. Rousseau: Flora and Vegetation in Quebec-Labrador
valleys and vier borders are covered by the taiga (75; 81). This habitat is
the forest tundra (Fig. 11). The passage from the taiga to the forest tundra is
quite abrupt. On the George River, in eastern Ungava, the territory south of
latitude 55°05′ N. is covered by the typical taiga; at 55°05′ N. the first tundra
patch appears on a hill, and such patches increase in number until about lat–
itude 55°09′ N. North of this point, the taiga in the immediate vicinity of
rivers and at the foot of hills never covers more than 25% of the territory,
and sometimes even less. Often, as for instance near latitude 55°10′ N. on
the George, the zone denuded of trees goes down to the river. The continuous
stretch of tundra, north of the absolute limit of trees rather than the timber
line which naturally stops farther south, belongs to the Arctic. The taiga
itself, in the author’s opinion, belongs to the subarctic zone. Of the same
opinion are Harshberger (29), Marie-Victorin (50), Villeneuve (99) and others,
whereas Hustich (32) considers the forest tundra in the subarctic region and
places the taiga together with the evergreen forest of the Laurentians in the
boreal forest region. This solution would perhaps
[:
] be acceptable if we con–
sidered the forest itself, but in the typification of a zone, the whole vegeta–
tion and climatic factors should be considered. Permafrost was found in the
taiga (35); furthermore the taiga is entirely north of the 32°F. isotherm for
the whole year (26). Such considerations alone would place the taiga in the
subarctic zone. If we acknowledge this point, the forest tundra is a mixed
arctic and subarctic zone. Considering the percentage of tundra (approximately
75%), this sector should be classified as arctic rather than subarctic. For
the reasons above, and considering the size of the forest tundra area in Quebec
and Labrador, it is important to characterize this zone by a name. Most
EA-PS. Rousseau: Flora and Vegetation in Quebec-Labrador
appropriate would see that of “hemiarctic zone,” referring to its partly
arctic nature. The hemiarctic zone is truly a mixed zone, where the treeless
and “subarctic” parts are distinctly separate, and not a transitional habitat.
We will find there, of course, as to the north of the absolute limit of trees,
a transitional habitat between the taiga and the tundra proper, but this is
generally of small extent. The tundra and taiga formations are quite ordinarily
clear-cut and easily distinguishable.
Limit of the Hemiarctic Zone
. Starting from the absolute limit of trees,
a few miles north of the Leaf River, this zone extends southward approximately
to latitude 55° N. (exactly 55°09′ N. on the George River), except near the
coast of Labrador, where it reaches approximately the vicinity of Blanc Sablon.
In general, this is the region covered by the forest tundra, as illustrated by
Hustich (32).
Subdivisions of the Hemiarctic Zone
This zone, studied from the forest point of view, has been divided by
Hustich (32) into two main divisions: the “Koksoak forest-tundra section” covering
only the valley of the Kaniapiskau and Koksoak, and the “Ungava forest-tundra
section” covering the remainder of the zone. The reason for separating the Kok–
soak section was that this valley has a decidedly more luxuriant vegetation
than its surroundings, which appear largely barren. No doubt, many floristic
regions will ultimately have to be delimited in this zone, as may already be
judged by the flora known from distinct sectors. At present it is impossible
to suggest, even tentatively, a phytogeographical subdivision. For this reason,
it would be better temporarily to consider the geographical units as based on
the hydrographic system. The sections then would be the following:
EA-PS. Rousseau: Flora and Vegetation in Quebec-Labrador
Leaf River Region
(H1). This extends from Lake Minto to a few miles
from Ungava Bay; the vicinity of Ungava Bay itself belongs to the “arctic
south shore of Ungava Bay” listed in the arctic zone. This Leaf River region
is the contact between the arctic and the hemiarctic in western Quebec. It
is separated from the Kogaluk and Payne arctic regions by the absolute limit
of trees.
Richmond Gulf Region
(H2). This lies near Hudson Bay, and covers the
basin of Nastapoka River, Richmond Gulf, and the Hudson Bay coast, extending
south to Fort George and Little Whale River (including its source, Upper Seal
Lake).
Koksoak Region
(H3). This comprises basin of the Koksoak River, from the
fork of the Larch and Kaniapiskau rivers, and extends to the limit of the
“arctic south shore of Ungava.” In this region lies Fort Chimo, the “airport
gateway” to the North. From seeds collected by the author at Fort Chimo,
plants were grown at the Copenhagen Botanical Garden and described by Bocher (6)
as
Luzula groenlandica
var.
fuscoatra
.
Stillwater-Larch Region
(H4). This is the district between the Richmond
Gulf region and the Koksoak and Kaniapiskau drainage basins. The main hydrogra–
phic elements of this region are Stillwater Lake and Larch River.
Kaniapiskau Region
(H5). This comprises the hydrographic basin of this
river, from the fork at Koksoak River to the taiga near the 55th parallel of
latitude.
Whale River Region
(H6). As there are three Whale rivers in Ungava, con–
fusion must be avoided. Little Whale and Great Whale rivers flow into Hudson
Bay, while the Whale River flows into Ungava Bay. In the Whale River region,
EA-PS. Rousseau: Flora and Vegetation in Quebec-Labrador
I place the basin of the False River, the Whale River, and all the small rivers
east of this to approximately longitude 66°30′ W., excluding the arctic shore
of Ungava Bay.
George River Region
(H7). The basin of this river, one of the most im–
portant in Ungava, is in the hemiarctic zone from latitude 55°09′ N. to 68°35′ N.,
approximately. The region, surveyed by Rousseau in 1947, will be studied in
greater detail.
Labrador Coast (H8). This irregular section may be taken to include the
Labrador coast from Okkak Bay (with some northern outposts) to Blanc Sablon,
and consequently the greater part of the basins of the Fraser and Assiwaban
rivers. The taiga, according to Tanner’s map (96), penetrates as a wedge into
the southern portion of this territory, and the Labrador arctic lobe (already
mentioned above as section A6 of the arctic zone)
[:
]penetrates as a northern
wedge into the interior at least as far as the source of Assiwaban River. Except
for the interior, which should perhaps be separated, this section corresponds to
a natural phytogeographical division, “the Atlantic coast section,” as described
by Hustich (32). Some outposts of the Labradorian taiga (marked H8 on the map)
exist north of the limit of section H8, between Port Manners and Hebron in sec–
tion A6 (Labrador Arctic lobe).
The George River Region
The whole length of this river was traveled for the first time by Mrs.
Leonidas Hubbard in 1905, followed by Dillon Wallace a few weeks later (81).
From Mrs. Hubbard’s account (30) we are given a few hints concerning the trees
along this river. The next complete exploration
[:
]
of the river, and its first
scientific survey, was made by Rousseau in 1947 (81). This region will be
EA-PS. Rousseau: Flora and Vegetation in Quebec-Labrador
considered in some detail as an example in the hemiarctic zone.
Topography
. At the source of the George River the terrain forms a plateau.
At latitude 54°57′ N. the first undulations appear. From Indian House Lake to
Ungava Bay both shores of the river are hilly, the summits of the hills rising
500 to 1000 feet above the level of the river (Fig. 12). Special attention
must be given to some hills which have, on the side toward the river an abrupt
cliff with a broken scree slope at its base; the opposite sides have no cliffs.
To this type of mountain, which constitutes a highly specific habitat — and
of which Bic Mountains in Rimouski County and the summits along the north shore
of the Gaspe Peninsula are so ch
^
a
^
racteristic — the Seven Islands Montagnais
have given the name
tissekau
, which will be adopted in the present study (Fig. 16).
Geology
. The only published geological information about this region is a
short note of Ritchie (70) based on a manuscript report by Rousseau. The whole
region belongs to the pre-Cambrian and is composed of granites, gneisses, and
paragneisses, except for two narrow bands of anorthosite approximately five
miles wide which lie near latitude 55°06′ and 55°25′ N. The whole region has
been strongly marked by the passage of glaciers; moraines, erratic boulders,
striae,
roche moutonnee
, eskers, etc., being plentiful.
Hydrography
. On the subarctic plateau the region is covered by lakes, some
of which seem to have no outlet and merely to drain by filtration, which favors
the formation of peat bogs. The river, with Hubbard Lake as its source, is
nearly 400 miles long. The first 70 miles are a chain of lakes dotted by scat–
tered boulders and linked by rapids. After this, through 45 miles of swift cur–
rent, the waters flow to Indian House Lake, a narrow lake about 1 to 2
[:
] miles
wide and 54 miles long. From Indian House Lake to Helen Falls, the 157 miles
of river break over 35 rapids, altogether some 45 miles in length. The river
EA-PS. Rousseau: Flora and Vegetation in Quebec-Labrador
is one of the most rapid in Ungava, and for this reason was traveled only in
parts by Naskapi Indians. The tidal zone starts at latitude 58°17′ N. and the
spring tide is supposed to rise the height of 40 feet. In the region of the
George River post, the muddy tidal flats are approximately a mile wide (81).
Meteorology
. A meteorological station was operated at Indian House Lake
during part of World War II and for a short time afterward, but the only data
accessible to the author are the maxima and minima which he observed during
the 1947 survey. From July 16 to August 8, when he was traveling down the river,
the night minima were between 32° and 54°F. in the camps, which were near the
river level and consequently more or less in the subarctic patches. When the
sky was
[:
] clouded over, the maximum during the day was sometimes not higher than
48°F. After sunset there was a sudden drop in temperature. For example, July 15
the thermometer indicated 60° at 9 p.m. and fifteen minutes later the thermometer
was at 48°F. Another point to be considered is that there is often a great dif–
ference between the night temperature six inches above the soil and that of five
feet above. The temperature near the soil was sometimes two to four degrees lower
than that at five feet. The temperature near the surface of the soil, although
not as important for meteorological purposes as that a few feet above, is very
significant as far as the vegetation cover is concerned. As in the Payne and
Kogaluk regions, windy conditions are normal, and the wind attained a velocity
which at times hind
^
e
^
red the advance of the expedition. From the southern part of
Indian House Lake northward all the way to the estuary, scattered snow patches
are apt to remain from one winter to another.
Soil
. Except at a few hundred feet from the river, rock
in situ
is generally
found only in and beside the rapids. Elsewhere the river bed is an almost
EA-PS. Rousseau: Flora and Vegetation in Quebec-Labrador
continuous series of moraines, the “wall” of boulders being sometimes many
miles long and twenty or even more feet high. Here and there, sand exposures
are found along the river and in rare instances, especially below Indian House
Lake, clay shores. In the upper part of the river, soil is rarely seen. Sandy
eskers are common everywhere. At a short distance from the immediate border of
the river, from the beginning of Indian House Lake to the estuary, the rocky
hills are strewn with boulders and have only a thin covering of soil. All that
was said in the previous chapter about the arctic zone, its tundra and peat bogs,
solifluction and marshy areas, soil and
Cladonia
polygons, etc., may be repeated
here.
Economic Plants.
Apart from the absence here of
Pedicularis lanata
and
Hedysarum alpinum
, there are the same plants as in the Payne and Kogaluk sections,
with, of course, the addition of trees. Of these black spruce (
Picea mariana
)
is the most common, white spruce (
Picea glauca
) being rare, and larch (
Latrix
laricina
) largely confined to the margins of the rivers and lakes. The black
spruce could be used as fuel or for tent poles, or utilized otherwise, but it is
seldom if ever of any real economic importance. The white spruce is big enough
to use more widely, but too rare. Balsam fir (
Abies balsamea
) is limited to the
southern extremity of the area, being always small and rare.
Sectors of the George River in the Hemiarctic Zone
Before dividing the George River district into smaller ecological sections,
we must remember that its source lies in the subarctic zone and its mouth prac–
tically in the arctic zone. All of the general aspects described here concerning
the George could apply in part to these portions of the river that lie outside
the hemiarctic zone. Instead of dividing the region into geographical sectors,
EA-PS. Rousseau: Flora and Vegetation in Quebec-Labrador
it would be better to consider separately the different types of habitat, as
follows: (1) the shores of the tidal zone; (2) the shores above the estuary;
(3) the subarctic forest patches or taiga patches; (4) the tundra; (5) peat
bogs; (6) ponds and other aquatic habitats; (7) weeds.
Tidal Zone
. With the flow of the tide, the reversible current forces
water back to latitude 58°17′ N. on the George River, completely covering two
very important rapids. As the spring tide reaches to a height of about forty
feet, it is normal for great tidal flats to be uncovered at low tide. Around
George River post (Fig. 12) they are approximately one milewide. These muddy
flats have no vegetation except for occasional algae. Where the tidal shore
is sandy and steeper, and consequently less extensive, the vegetation is more
pronounced. We can distinguish three steps in the tidal sections. In the low–
est part of the shore, near the limit of low tide and consequently covered by
brackish water twice each day, grow:
|
Calamagrostis labradorica
|
Festuca rubra
|
|
Carex marina
|
Potentilla egedii
var.
groonlandica
|
|
C. subspathacea
|
|
Stellaria crassifolia
|
|
Dupontia fisheri
|
Triglochin palustris
|
In the central section of the tidal zone, touched by brackish water every
day, but for a shorter period, the following species from a turf in which the
maritime plantain is dominant and
Sedum rosea
is found in great abundance:
|
Arenaria peloides
var.
diffusa
|
Plantago juncoides
var.
decipiens
|
|
Euphrasia arctica
|
Potentilla egedii
var.
groenlandica
|
|
Galium brandegeei
|
Primula stricta
|
|
Lomatogonium rotatum
|
Sedum rosea
|
|
Parnassia obtusiflora (P.
palustris
auct. am.)
|
|
In the higher portions of the shore, which are never covered by brackish
water nor by fresh water during the neap, all these species mentioned above will
be found again, in the company, of:
EA-PS. Rousseau: Flora and Vegetation in Quebec-Labrador
|
Agropyron ungavense
|
Montia lamprosperma
|
|
Astragalus alpinus
|
Potentilla palustris
var.
Parviflora
|
|
Carex rariflora
|
|
Cochlearia officinalis
var.
groenlandica
|
Primula egaliksensis
|
|
Stellaria humifusa
|
|
Elymus arenarius
var.
villosus
|
|
Of these,
Agropyron ungavense
seems to be an intergeneric hybrid of
Agropyron
and
Elymus
, like
Agroelymus adamsii
(72), but of different parentage. The
shore line and the part of the shore itself never reached by brackish water
do not differ from the same section of the shore above the estuary. In a pond
to which brackish water penetrates at high tide are found the following algae:
Calothrix stellaris
,
Cladophora crispata
,
Dictyosphalium pulchellum
and
Gom–phosphaeria lacustris
. Mosses of this habitat are
Calliergon sarmentosum
and
Drepanocladus exannulatus
var.
typicus
, while in a similar habitat, on Naupats
Island, in the arctic zone near the outlet of George River,
Tortula ruralis
constituted an important element.
Shore Above the Estuary
. The sandy or gravelly shore is generally dry,
but for a part of the year is submerged by the riv
^
e
^
r. often the vegetation of
this section is a kind of dry turf in which
Betula glandulosa
will occasionally
grow, with
Alnus crispa
, although frequently both of them remain very short.
The species are mainly the following:
|
Archillea lanulosa
|
Campanula rotundifolia
|
|
A. nigrescens
|
Cardamine bellidifolia
|
|
*
Agrostis borealis
|
*
Carex anguillata
|
|
Alchemilla filicaulis
|
*
C. aquatilis
|
|
Antennaria rousseauii
|
*
C. bigelowii
|
|
*
Arabis arenicola
|
C. brunnescens
|
|
Arctostaphlos alpina
|
C. capitata
|
|
Arenaria groenlandica
|
C. microglochin
|
|
Artemisia borealis
f.
wormskioldii
|
*
C. miliaris
|
|
Astragalus alpinus
|
*
C. rariflora
|
|
Calamagrostis canadensis
var.
langsdorfi
|
*
Castilleja septentrionalis
|
|
Cerastium arvense
|
|
C. neglecta
|
|
EA-PS. Rousseau: Flora and Vegetation in Quebec-Labrador
|
Deschampsia atropurpurea
|
Rhinanthus oblongifolius
|
|
D. caespitosa
var.
glauca
|
Ribes glandulosum
|
|
Dryopteris spinulosa
var.
americana
|
*
Rubus acaulis
|
|
Epilobium angustifolium
var.
intermedium
|
R. idaeus
var.
strigosus
|
|
R. paracaulis
|
|
*
E. glandulosum
|
*
Salix arctophila
|
|
E. latifolium
|
S. brachycarpa
|
|
*
Equisetum arvense
var.
boreale
|
S. calcicola
|
|
Euphrasia arctica
|
*
S.cordifolia
var.
callicarpaea
|
|
Festuca brachyphylla
|
S. herbacea
|
|
Hierochloe alpina
|
S. planifolia
|
|
Kalmia polifolia
|
S. uva-ursi
|
|
*
Lonicera villosa
var.
calvescens
|
Sanguisorba canadensis
|
|
*
Luzula parviflora
var.
melanocarpa
|
*
Scirpus caespitosus
var.
callosus
|
|
L. groenlandica
|
*
Solidago macrophylla
var.
thyrsoidea
|
|
L. spicata
|
|
Lychnis alpina
var.
americana
|
S. multiradiata
|
|
Oxyria digyna
|
Stellaris calycantha
|
|
*
Pedicularis groenlandica
|
*
Taraxacum lacerum
|
|
Petasites palmatus
|
*
T. lapponicum
|
|
*
Phleam alpinum
|
*
Tofieldia pusilla
|
|
Poa arctica
|
Trisetum spicatum
|
|
P. glauca
|
*
Vaccinium uliginosum
|
|
Polygonum viviparum
|
V. vitis-idaea
var.
minus
|
|
Potentilla emarginata
|
*
Veronica alpina
var.
unalaschensis
|
|
*
Pyrola grandiflora
|
The species in the preceding list marked by an asterisk (8) frequently grow
in the humid sections of the shore as well as on the dry part.
Of the preceding, the cologically important species are
Antennaria rousseauii
,
Arenaria groenlandica
,
Betula glandulosa
,
Carex anguillata
,
C. miliaris
,
Luzula
spicata
,
Pedicularis groenlandica
,
Polygonum viviparum
,
Potentilla tridentata
,
Salix arctophila
,
S. brachycarpa
,
S. cordifolia
,
S. herbacea
,
S. planifolia
,
Solidago macrophylla
,
Taraxacum lapponicum
,
Trisetum spicatum
, and
Veronica al–pin[]^a,^
varying locally according to the sector of the shore. Furthermore, they
are found everywhere along the river. On the contrary,
Alchemilla filicaulis
is very localized; and
Arabis arenicola
,
Artemisia borealis
,
Astragalus alpinum^
s
^
,
and
Lychnis alpina
var.
americana
, grow only in the lower part of the river.
EA-PS. Rousseau: Flora and Vegetation in Quebec-Labrador
Many of the species listed above are plants of the dry tundra which have found,
along some portions of the shore, a favorable habitat. This is the case with
Arctostaphylos alpina
,
Carex capitata
,
Hierochloe alpina
,
Nulmia polifolia
,
Luzula groenlandica
and
Salix uva-ursi
.
Prominent among associates in the various wet places are:
Andromeda
glaucophylla
,
Eri
[:
]
phorum angustifolium
,
E. scheuchzeri
,
Juncus albescens
,
Parnassia kotzebuei
,
Pinguicula vulgaris
,
Viola labradorica
, and
V. repens
(=V. palustris auct. amer.). Less important species are:
|
Bartsia alpina
|
E. russeolum
|
|
Calamagrostis canadensis
var.
scabra
|
Juncus castaneus
|
|
J. filiformis
|
|
Cardamine pratensis var.
palustris
|
Galium trifidum
|
|
Carex atratiformis
|
Luzula groenlandica
|
|
C. canescens
|
L. spicata
var.
kjellmani
|
|
C. glareosa
|
Myrica gale
|
|
C. williamsii
|
Pedicularis flammea
|
|
Corallorhiza trifida
|
Poa alpina
|
|
Epilobium anagallidifolium
|
Potentilla palustris
var.
parvifolia
|
|
Equisetum sylvaticum
|
Steptopus amplexifolius
|
|
Eriophorum angustifolium
|
Vaccinium oxycoccos
|
Of the last list,
Cardamine pratensis
var.
palustris
,
Carex williamsii
,
Corallorhiza trifida
,
Epilobium anagallidifolium
,
Luzula groenlandica
, and
Pedicularis flammea
were rather uncommon species. The chief bryophytes of this
habitat are
Brepanocladus uncinatus
var.
typicus
,
Grimmia alpicola
var.
rivularis
f.
papillosa
, and
Pogonatum capillare
.
On the sttep embankment of the river, the preceding species listed from dry
or humid shores are also found, but some of them seem to be more appropriate to
the rocky banks, as for instance:
|
Carex rupestris
|
Epilobium palustre
|
|
C. tenuiflora
|
[:
]Juncus alpines
var.
alpestris
|
|
Dryopteris phegopteris
|
Potentilla nivea
|
EA-PS. Rousseau: Flora and Vegetation in Quebec-Labrador
|
Ribes glandulosum
|
Silene acaulis
var.
exscapa
|
|
Saxifraga aizoon
|
Stellaria longipes
|
|
S. foliolosa
|
Woodsia irvensis
|
On the nearly vertical humid cliffs, bordered at their summit by shrubs,
grows
Umbilicaria vellea,
one of the more palatable rock tripes. On these
cliffs the dominating bryophytes are the following:
|
Calliergon sarmentosum
|
Pogonatum alpinum
|
|
Drepanocladus uncinatus
var.
typicus
|
Rhacomitrium fasciculare
|
|
Sphagnum girgensohnii
|
|
Hypnum patientiae
|
Tetraplodon mnioides
|
On the steep sandy embankment, with
Empetrum nigrum
dominant, are:
|
Equisetum pratense
|
Ledum groenlandicum
|
|
Festuca brachyphylla
|
L. palustre var. decumbens
|
|
F. rubra
|
Linnaea borealis
var.
americana
|
|
Hierochloe alpina
|
Potentilla norvegica
|
Nevertheless, the normal embankment of the river is either made up an
almost barren boulder accumulation or of the luxuriant birch-alder community,
(Fig. 15). Among the boulders we find some of the elements of the dry shore,
but the most common elements are
Campanula rotundifolia
,
Castilleja pallida
var.
septentrionalis
,
Epilobium latifolium
,
Oxyria digyna
, and
Salix cordi–folia
var.
callicarpaea
, with, in the lowest part of the river,
Cerastium
beeringianum
,
Papaver radicatum
, forming sometimes almost pure stands, and
some
Arnica plantag
[:
]^[: in]^
ea
.
As for the birch-alder community (Fig. 15 and 26), it is almost a contin–
uous band of
Alnus crispa
and
Betula glandulosa
, with as usual shrubby asso–
ciates
Salix planifolia
,
S. cordifolia
var.
callicarpaea
, and
Ribes glandulosum
,
and as very occasional associates
Amelanchier bartramiana
,
Betula borealis
,
Populus balsamifera
,
Salix pellita
,
Sorbus decora
and
Viburnum edule
. As for
the herbaceous elements, a great number are similar to shore and embankment
species, though none of them is really common, excepting perhaps
Viola palustris
.
EA-PS. Rousseau: Flora and Vegetation in Quebec-Labrador
But other species, not yet encountered on the shore and the embankment, were
growing in the birch-alder community, such as:
|
Alchemilla vestita
|
Lycopodium annotinum
var.
acrifolium
|
|
Calamagrostis neglecta
|
|
Cornus canadensis
|
Mitella nuda
|
|
C. suecica
|
Petasites palmatus
|
|
Dryopteris disjuncta
|
P. sagittarus
|
|
Galium brandegeei
|
Trientalis americana
|
Of the preceding,
Alchemilla vestita
and
Petasites sagittarus
were particularly
rare.
Cornus canadensis
,
Dryopteris disjuncta
,
Lycopodium annotinum
,
Mitella
nuda
, and
Trientalis americana
are species which normally inhabit the taiga as
well as the boreal coniferous forest.
A specialized habitat that could be considered as a part of the shore is
the
tissekau
(Fig. 16) of which a description has been given above. Here normally
grow the species of the embankment and shores, especially humid shores. In
some places
Alnus crispa
is dominant, in others
Betula glandulosa
associated
with
Ledum groenlandicum
. After these, the chief elements are, in order of
importance:
Vaccinium vitis-idaea
var.
minus
,
Cornus canadensis
,
Lycopodium
annotinum
, and
Ledum palustre
var.
decumbens
. Of the Cyperaceae, one of the
main types is
Carex scirpoidea
var.
scirpiformis. Dryopteris disjuncta
,
Cala–magrostis neglecta
, and
Pedicularis labradorica
are rather rare.
Taiga Strips
(Figs. 13 and 14). Restricted generally to the lower part of
the valleys or to hillsides, the taiga strips show relatively luxuriant growth
toward their centers. In the portions bordering the tundra patches, the trees
are smaller, being sometimes hardly more than shrubs. For a
^
few
^
feet, there is a
transitional zone between the habitats representing the typical taiga and tundra.
Are the subarctic thickets progressing or receding? Some ecologists consider
the presence of juniperoid black spruce,
Picea mariana
, at the limit of subarctic
EA-PS. Rousseau: Flora and Vegetation in Quebec-Labrador
forest patches as a proof of forest regression, while the occurrence in the
thickets of
Picea mariana
with drooping branches is regarded as evidence of
forest progression. Though these characters may apply elsewhere, they are of
no value in Ungava. In all parts of the hemiarctic zone visited, the forest
thickets were surrounding by juniperoid black-spruces, and in the center of
the stand there was black spruce with drooping branches. Sometimes both types
could be seen side by side, either in the center or on the border of the stand.
If the presence of these trees is caused in part by ecological factors, perhaps
some genetical factors could also be involved.
In the taiga,
Picea mariana
is the most important element and often the
only tree (Fig. 21),
Larix laricina
occurs along the rivers or on the borders
of lakes. Exceptionally, at Fort Chimo it constitutes the most important ele–
ment on higher slopes. This may be owing to the fact that black spruce had been
liberally cut for fuel. In the George River taiga of the hemiarctic zone,
Picea
glauca
occupies the same area as
Picea mariana
(Fig. 18), but can easily be dis–
tinguished from it, even at a great distance, because it is usually much taller;
it remains a very rare tree.
Populus balsamifera
var.
subcordata
establishes
itself in homogenous thickets in the spruce forest, at some distance from the
river, but is rarely met. One of these thickets was found as far north as lati–
tude 58°30′ N. near the George River post.
Populus tremuloides
and
Betula papy–rifera
seem to be completely lacking in this territory.
Abies balsamea
(Fig. 23)
is present in the southern part of that territory
[:
]
but disappears almost at the
beginning of the hemiarctic zone; it grows there as a very small tree and often
as the depressed f.
hudsonia.
Throughout the territory, we find the prostrate
Larix laricina
f.
depressa
and
Picea mariana
f.
grisea
, especially in the border
zone between the taiga and tundra patches. The dead confers appear to be subject
EA-PS. Rousseau: Flora and Vegetation in Quebec-Labrador
to be subject to the attack of the same fungi as those farther south. Thus
the cubic brown rot, apparently caused by
Fomes pinicola
, is found in the
northern part of the zone. At the northern limit of trees,
Phyllaceria
terrestris
grows on decaying larch twigs.
The common shrubs in the taiga patches, in addition
[:
]
to the prostrate
conifers already mentioned, are:
|
Betula glandulosa
|
Salix cordifolia
var.
callicarpaea
|
|
Chamaedaphne calyculata
|
|
Empetrum nigrum
|
S. discolor
|
|
Kalmia polifolia
|
Sorbus decora
|
|
Ledum groenlandicum
|
Vaccinium cespitosum
|
|
Ribes glandulosum
|
V. vitis-idaea
var.
minus
|
|
Rubus acaulis
|
V. uliginosum
|
|
R. chamaemorus
|
Viburnum edule
|
The shrubs are common in early all of the taiga patches in the area, the most
frequent being
Betula glandulosa
,
Empetrum nigrum
,
Rubus chamaemorus
, and
Vac–cinium vitis-idaea
var.
minus
. To these must be added
Alnus crispa
, frequent
in the taiga patches on the slopes of steep hills, and
Juniperus communis
var.
depressa
, found more commonly around the George River post.
Phyllodoce caerulea
in some parts is not only a tundra element but invades the taiga itself,
especially in the southern part of the hemiarctic zone;
Salix vestita
is
limited to a few patches with a soil formed of soaked
Sphagnum
.
The soil itself is covered either by a mat of soaked
Sphagnum
or by a
carpet of
Cladonia
. This last lichen formation contains mainly
Cladonia gracilis
var.
elongata
,
Cladonia digitata
, and
Cladonia impexa
, mixed with another lichen,
Nephroma arcticum
, and some bryophytes, mainly:
|
Aulacomnium palustre
|
Drepanocladus uncinatus
var.
typicus
|
|
Barbilophozia barbata
|
|
B. hatcheri
|
Hypnum crista-castronsis
|
|
Calliergonella schreberi
|
Lophozia ventricosa
|
|
Dicranum fuscens
|
Polytrichum commune
|
EA-PS. Rousseau: Flora and Vegetation in Quebec-Labrador
The drier portions support the following:
|
Carex deflexa
|
L. complanatum
|
|
Chiogenes hispidula
|
L. selago
|
|
Cornus canadensis
|
Mitella nuda
|
|
Coptis groenlandica
|
Moneses uniflora
|
|
Deschampsia flexuosa
|
P. minor
|
|
Linnaea borealis
var
. americana
|
Solidago macrophylla
|
|
Luzula parviflora
var.
melanocarpa
|
Trientalis americana
|
|
Viola labradorica
|
|
Lycopodium annotinum
var.
pungens
|
|
Of these,
Cornus canadensis
,
Carex pauciflora
,
Deschampsia flexuosa
,
Linnaea
borealis
,
Lycopodium annotinum
and
Solidago macrophylla
are common.
Lycopodium
complanatum
is found more occasionally, but is then abundant.
In the most humid parts of the taiga, the soil is covered with
Sphagnum
recurvum
. In the soil covered with
Sphagnum
, entirely different herbaceous
associates are found, although the shrubs are generally the same as in the drier
habitats. The herbaceous elements are:
|
Bartsia alpina
|
Eriophorum angustifolium
|
|
Carex canescens
|
E. russeolum
|
|
C. chordorrhiza
|
Galium brandegeei
|
|
C. pauciflora
|
Listera cordata
|
|
C. rariflora
|
Petasites palmatus
|
|
C. trisperma
|
Pyrola secunda
var.
obtusata
|
|
Castilleja septentrionalis
|
Ranunculus lapponicus
|
|
Dryopteris phegopteris
|
Streptopus amplexifolius
var.
americanus
|
|
D. spinulosa
|
|
|
Taraxacum lacerum
|
Although this list contains a few species peculiar to forests, such as
Listera cordata
,
Streptopus
, and
Pyrola secunda
, some are ordinary elements of
the humid shores, like the
Eriophorum
,
Castilleja
, and even
Bartsia
, while others
again are elements of peat bogs, e.g.,
Carex chordorrhiza
.
Tundra Patches
(Figs. 14, 17, 19, 20). We should distinghish, for the sake
of convenience, the tundra patches near the river, the very dry eskers, and the
tundra patches a few miles distant from the river. As mentioned previously,
the tundra patches start near latitude 55°05′ N. and are definitively dominant
around latitude 55°09′ N. In the tundra patches, important elements are the
EA-PS. Rousseau: Flora and Vegetation in Quebec-Labrador
lichens, which are generally the same there as on the eskers and the summits
of the hills.
On tundra patches near the river (Figs. 17, 20) the dominant shrubs are:
|
Arctostaphlos alpina
|
Rubus chamaemorus
|
|
Betula glandulosa
|
Salix herbacea
|
|
Chamaedaphne calyculata
|
S. humilis
|
|
Empetrum nigrum
|
S. uva-ursi
|
|
Ledum groenlandicum
|
Vaccinium angustifolium
|
|
L. palustre
var
. decumbens
|
|
V. uliginosum
var.
pubescens
|
|
Loiseleuria procumbens
|
V. titis-idaea
var.
minus
|
Of these the most common plants are
Arctostaphylos
,
Betula
,
Empetrum
,
Ledum
,
Salix uva-ursi
(Fig. 22),
Vaccinium uliginosum
, and
Vaccinium vitis-idaea
var.
minus. Chamaedaphne calyculata
, though rather common, is not an element of the
tundra north of the tree line; nor are
Vaccinium angustifolium
and
Salix
humilis
, which themselves are rare in the hemiarctic zone. Attention must be
drawn also to the presence of occasional prostrate shrubs, such as the depressed
forms of
Larix laricina
and
Picea mariana
, which are likewise absent from the
Arctic Zone proper. As for the herbaceous elements, they are:
|
Arenaria groenlandica
|
Festuca brachyphylla
|
|
Carex bigelowii
|
Hierochloe alpina
|
|
C. brunnescens
|
Juncus trifidus
|
|
C. capitata
|
Linnaea borealis
var.
americana
|
|
C. glacialis
|
|
C. gynocrates
|
Luzula confusa
|
|
C. scirpoidea
|
Lycopodium complanatum
|
|
Cornus canadensis
|
Pedicularis labradorica
|
|
Deschampsia atropupurea
|
Phyllodoce coerulea
|
|
Diapensia lapponica
|
Poa longipila
|
|
Eriophorum angustifolium
|
|
Of these, the dominating species are
Carex capitata
and
Diapensia lapponica
,
with
Hierochloe alpina
represented by scattered individuals, and some
Luzula
confusa
and
Pedicularis labradorica. Arenaria groenlandica
is often the only
species on sterile rocks:-
Lycopodium complanatum
and
Linnaea borealis
belong
more approxpriately to the protected slopes. The old caribou horns lying on
EA-PS. Rousseau: Flora and Vegetation in Quebec-Labrador
the oil in this habitat as well as on eskers or in the taiga strips, owe their
green color to two algae,
Protococcus viridis
and
Stichococcus subtilis
. They
are also frequently covered by two lichens,
Caloplaca stillicidorum
and
C. sub–olivacea
, and by the mosses,
Sphagnum capillaceum
var.
tenellum
and
Tetraplodon
mnioides
. In the tundra patches as well as on eskers the common mushroom is
Boletus scaber
.
Eskers (Figs. 24, 25) do not differ essentially in vegetation from the
ordinary tundra patches. Their slopes are covered with the higher shrubs of
the tundra such as
Ledum groenlandicum
,
Ledum palustre
var.
decumbens
,
Betula
glandulosa
, the prostrate
Picea glauca
f.
parva
, as well as the prostrate black
spruce,
Ribes glandulosum
, and
Salix cordifolia
var.
callicarpca
. On the summits,
the dominants are only very low or creeping plants, such as
Arctostaphylos alpina
,
Empetrum nigrum
,
Salix uva-ursi
and
Vaccinium vitis-idaea
var.
minus
, all equally
important and intermixed with:
|
Carex bigelowii
|
L. sabinaefolium
var.
sitchense
|
|
C. capitata
|
Poa glauca
|
|
Deschampsia caespitosa
|
Potentilla tridentate
|
|
Luzula confusa
|
Stellaria longipes
|
|
Lycopodium obscurum
var.
dendroideum
|
Vaccinium canadense
|
|
V. uliginosum
var.
lengeanum
|
There
[:
]
[:
] also occasional species found in the typical sections of the
tundra bordering the river. Of the preceding species, the two
Lycopodia
are
found only at latitude 55°09′ N., the southern limit of the hemiarctic zone.
Boletus scaber
and an
Omphalia
(apparently
O. fibuloides
) are two common mush–
rooms in this habitat.
The lichens found in the tundra patches near the river as well as on the
dry eskers are mainly the following:
EA-PS. Rousseau: Flora and Vegetation in Quebec-Labrador
|
Alectoria chalybeiformis
|
C. rangiferina
|
|
A. ochroleuca
|
Dactylina arctica
|
|
Cetraria nivalis
|
Stereocaulon alpinum
|
|
Cladonia coccifera
|
S. denudetum
|
|
C. deformis
|
Umbilicaria hyperborea
|
|
C. impexa
|
U. proboscidea
|
In the equivalent habitats at Fort Chimo, one of the common
Cladonia
species
would be
Cladonia uncialis
.
On summits of the hills in the vicinity of the river (Fig. 20), the species
of phanerogamic flora are more or less the same as on the eskers. The summits,
being mainly a rocky outcrop, harbor lichens peculiar to such habitats, such as:
|
Actinogyra muhlenbergia
|
L. lapicida
f.
ochromeliza
|
|
Alectoria divergens
|
L. merrillii
|
|
A. jubata
|
L. silacea
|
|
A. ochroleuca
|
Parmelia enteromorpha
|
|
Buellia atrata
|
Parmelia stygia
|
|
B. occidentalis
|
Rhizocarpon geographicum
|
|
Cetraria fahlunenses
|
Solorina crocea
|
|
C. nivalis
|
Umbilicaria erosa
|
|
Cladonia deformis
|
U. proboscidea
|
|
Haematomma lapponicum
|
|
|
Lecidea arcuatula
|
|
The accompanying bryophytes are mainly:
|
Aulacomnium turgidum
|
P. piliferum
|
|
Dicranum fuscescens
|
Ptilidium ciliare
|
|
Drepanoclandus uncinatus
var.
typicus
|
Rhacomotrium lanuginosum
|
|
Scapania nemorosa
|
|
Gymnocolea inflata
|
Sphenolobus minutes
|
|
Polytrichum juniperimum
var.
alpestre
|
|
|
|
In tundra patches on elevated hills at some distance from the river (Fig. 19),
a few miles west of Indian House Lake, the region becomes decidedly richer in
arctic species. All the types already found on tundra patches and eskers near
the river are there, as well as practically the same dominants; but they are ac–
companied also by other arctic-alpine elements, such as the following:
EA-PS. Rousseau: Flora and Vegetation in Quebec-Labrador
|
Bartsia alpina
|
Ranunculus allenii
|
|
Cardamine bellidifolia
|
R. pygmaeus
|
|
Cassiope hypnoides
|
Salix arctophila
|
|
Castilleja septentrionalis
|
Saxifraga rivularis
|
|
Cerastium alpinum
|
Senecio congestus
var.
palustris
|
|
C. cerastoides
|
S. pauciflorus
var.
atropurpureus
|
|
Dryopteris fragrans
|
|
Epilobium anagallidifolium
|
Sibbaldia procumbens
|
|
Eriophorum chamassonis
|
Silene acaulis
var.
exscapa
|
|
Gnaphalium supinum
|
Solidago macrohylla
var.
thyrsoidea
|
|
Lycopodium selago
|
|
Oxyria digyna
|
Veronica alpina
var.
unalaschensis
|
|
Poa fernaldiana
|
|
Polygonum viviparum
|
Viola repens
[:
] (=
V. palustris
auct. amer.)
|
|
Pyrola grandiflora
|
Present also in the same habitat are the following plants of wider distribution
in this region:
|
Carex rarifolora
|
Lycopodium annotinum
va.
pungens
|
|
Cystoteris fragilis
|
Petasites palmatus
|
|
Dryopteris spinulosa
|
Salix brachycarpa
|
|
Eriophorum angustifolium
|
S. cordifolia
|
|
E. spissum
|
S. planifolia
|
|
Luzula parviflora
var.
melanocarpa
|
Taraxacum lapponicum
|
|
Tofieldia pusilla
|
|
|
Viola labradorica
|
To the above list one might add
Eriophorum russeolum
, which grows around
ponds in this area. It must be noted, however, that
E. russeolum
does not belong
to the arctic but to the hemiarctic and subarctic.
Peat Bogs
(Fig. 27). The distinction between the humid tundra and the peat
bog is not always clear, apart from the accumulation of peat. In the peat bog,
many of the species of the tundra are present, such as
Ledum groenlandicum
(com–
monly parasitized by
Chrysomyxa ledi
),
Kalmia polifolia
,
Andromeda glaucophylla
,
and especially
Chamaedaphne calyculata
. Among the elements more particularly
restricted to this habitat, we should mention
Calamagrostis pickeringii
var.
debilis
,
Carex pauciflora
,
Drosera rotundifolia
,
Epilobium palustre
,
Eriophorum
EA-PS. Rousseau: Flora and Vegetation in Quebec-Labrador
russeolum
,
E. spissum
,
Galium labradoricum
, and
Menyanthes trifoliata
. In
the more humid parts
Vaccinium oxycoccos
,
Carex trisperma
and
C. chordorrhiza
are also common and widespread species, while
Stellaria calycantha
var.
flori–bunda
is occasional near the southern limit of the territory. In the estuarine
portion, plants of the tidal shore, such as Primula egaliksensis, sometimes
invade the littoral peat bogs. In an elevated peat bog at the base of a
tissekau
, the main bryophytes were:
|
Aulocomnium turgidum
|
Drepanocladus uncinatus var.
Typicus
|
|
Calliergon sarmentosum
|
|
Calliergonella schreberi
|
Pohlia nutans
|
|
Ceratodon purpureus
|
Polytrichum juniperum var. alpestre
|
|
Cinclidium subrotundum
|
Sphagnum girgensohnii
|
Aquatic Habitats
. In the George River itself, owing to the very swift
current, aquatic plants are uncommon, not only in the number of species but also
in the number of individuals. While Payne River has more luxuriant vegetation,
even though it is made up of only two species, on the George we find only oc–
casional
Hippuris vulgaris
,
Potamogeton alpinus
var.
tenuifolius
, and
Ranunculus
trichophyllus
var.
eradicatus
. In protected bays or littoral ponds occur
Equise
–
tum littorale
,
Juncus alpinus
f.
nanus
, and even
Menyanthes trifoliata
. In
tundra ponds, in addition to
Menyanthes trifoliata
, we meet
Cardamine pratensis
,
and, in alpine ponds,
Ranunculus hyperboreus
, with the following algae:
|
Gloeocapsa alpicola
|
Scytonema figuratum
|
|
G. dimidiata
|
Stigonema minutum
|
|
Gloecystis grevillei
|
|
Scytonema figuratum
, mixed with
s^
S
^
tigonema ocellatum
, is also found in the
film of cold water flowing over rocky exposures. No data are available on the
cold springs of this part, but at Fort Chimo, in the same zone, and a spring
flowing under a rock contained
Binuclearia tatrana
and
Schizochlomis aurantiaca
.
EA-PS. Rousseau: Flora and Vegetation in Quebec-Labrador
|
Andreaea obovata
|
Drepanocladus exannulatus
|
|
Anthelia julacea
|
Orthocaulis atlanticus
|
|
Blindia actua
|
Polytrichum juniperum
var.
alpestre
|
|
Calliergon stramineum
|
Sphagnum recurvum
|
|
Dichelyma pallescens
|
S. robustum
|
Weeds
. Of the plants that could be considered as weeds, the only one is
Polygonum aviculare
var.
depressum
which was found around George River post,
on the beaten path, associated with the moss
Bryum argenteum
.
III. ARCTIC OUTPOSTS
Outside of the arctic zone proper, we find limited habitats which harbor
arctic plants. In the subarctic regions of the Quebec-Labrador peninsula and
its vicinity, arctic outposts are found in the Otish Mountains south of Lake
Nichicun, in the sector north of Seven Islands, on Anticosti and Mingan Islands,
in limited sectors near Lake Mistassini, and in certain parts of Newfoundland.
They also occur on the Gaspe coast, in the Shikshok and St. Urbain Mountains,
in the Bic region of Rimouski County, Quebec, in the St. Lawrence freshwater
estuary, along the Matapedia and Restigouche rivers, and on Twin Islands in
James Bay. In the temperate zone, arctic outposts have been recognized on
Mount Katahdin and Mount Washington, in certain parts of Vermont, and to some
extent in peat bogs in other northern states.
Studies of the flora and vegetation of arctic outposts have been made by
Doutt (12), Fernald (17; 18; 19), Kucyniak (38), Marie-Victorin (49; 50; 51),
Raymond (66), Rousseau (1931, 1933, 1950 A, 1950 B), Rousseau and Raymond ms),
Rousseau and Rouleau (ms), Scoggan (94), and Wynne-Edwards (103; 104).
Phytogeographical Aspects and Glaciation
Dr. Merritt L. Fernald (19) in his classic work following many years of
study in the field and in the herbarium advanced in its definite form the
EA-PS. Rousseau: Flora and Vegetation in Quebec-Labrador
theory that the center of the Shikshok Mountains and other parts of north–
eastern America were not glaciated during the Wisconsin period. This was
based in part upon the assumption that certain arctic-alpine plants were not
reported from the center of Ungava, which is considered to be the center of
the Labradorian icecap. Since the publication of Fernald’s work, the botani–
cal expeditions carried on in the area by Lepage and Dutilly and Rousseau, have
found so many of these plants that we are obliged to revise our notions. These
aspects were discussed
(
^
b
^
y Rousseau (the value of botany as indicator of gla–
ciated areas), with the following general conclusions.
In his paper of 1925, Fernald gives four lists of plants which are pur–
ported to be indicative of nonglaciation. The three first lists, numbering
236 entities in all, are of those arctic plants which were found in the interior
of Labrador (i.e., Ungava) according to Fernald’s belief. The fourth list con–
tains the cordilleran plants, numbering altogether 293 entities. (For various
reasons, this last list should be reduced by about 40 or 45, leaving only some
250 species and varieties). From Rousseau’s work in the Lake Mistassini area,
along the George River and later on the Kogaluk and Payne Rivers, more than 160
of Fernald’s 236 arctic plants were brought back. Of the remaining 250 cor–
dilleran plants, approximately 80 were collected. Conse
[:
]quently, the following
conclusions may be drawn. (1) Arctic species cannot be considered as indicators
of nonglaciation. (2) The so-called cordilleran plants could be partly arctic
plants which vanished from the Arctic for one reason or another, and therefore
are of the same interpretative value as the ordinary arctic plants. As for the
others, they could well be alpine plants which have not been able to establish
themselves in the Arctic for reasons given in the introduction to this article.
EA-PS. Rousseau: Flora and Vegetation in Quebec-Labrador
(3) To explain the presence of arctic or alpine plants on supposed nunataks
in eastern America there is a hypothesis, other than the nunatak theory. They
could have taken shelter there during the presylvatic period, between the
receding of the glacier and the forest invasion (73), after having traveled
from the Canadian Rockies to the Gaspe Peninsula, along the “arctic corridor”
bordering the continental glacier. This theory could be referred to as the
postglacial colonization of alpine areas and arctic outposts. Although, in
the actual state of our knowledge, the nunatak hypothesis of the persistence
of plants in unglaciated areas of northeastern America may perhaps be retained
as a working one, the theory of postglacial colonization of alpine areas and
arctic outposts seems more in accordance with the basic knowledge of the flora
and Quaternary geology of the country.
The author gladly mentions the kind cooperation received from his colleagues,
mainly Le Roy Andrews, Bernard Boivin, J. A. Calder, C. W. Dodge, W. G. Dore,
Francis Drouet, A. W. Evans, the late M. L. Fernald, Seville Flowers, Margaret
Fulford, Gerald Gardner, E. Hustich, Br. Irenee-Marie, James Kucyniak, Ernest
Lepage, Fr. Louis-Marie, John W. Marr, Ruth Patrick, Nicholas Polunin, Rene
Pomerleau, Erling Porsild, Marcel Raymond, Br. Rolland-Germain, and Ernest Rouleau.
EA-PS. Rousseau: Flora and Vegetation in Quebec-Labrador
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^
----.
^
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