A contribution to the phytogeography of the Angmagssalik area, East Greenland, with special reference to Chionophily

As delimited by Polunin (1951), the Arctic is situated on the Northern hemisphere North of(l)a line 50 miles North of the coniferous forest line, (2) the Northern limit of microphanerophytic growth, or (3) the Nordenskjold line, according to the formula V = 9-0,IK. According to this delimination the whole of Greenland belongs to the arctic region. Within the Arctic a subdivision in low- and high-arctic regions is usually recognized. Larsen (1960) marks this transition on the East coast of Greenland near Cape Dalton. Low-arctic East Greenland thus stretches from 60° to 69°30' N. lat. The Angmagssalik area in Southeast Greenland ranges from circa 65° to 67°20' N. lat. Between the Sermilik and the Kangerdlugssuatsiak fjords to the West and East, Denmark Strait to the South and the extensive nunatak area Schweitzerland, merging into the central Greenland ice-cap to the North, the Angmagssalik area in stricter sense (35°45' – 38° W. long., 65°30'-66°20' N. lat.) is the largest ice-free region of low-arctic East Greenland and must therefore, and for its isolated and central situation, be regarded as highly representative.