Abstract
IT is well known that, after the final retreat of the Pleistocene ice in western Europe, the flora of the British Isles was for a time much more like that of the arctic regions of the present day than is now the case. The same must be true of the vegetation and its component plant communities. Following the subsequent amelioration of climate, there came waves of relatively mesothermic dominants before which the smaller and less aggressive microthermic species retreated. The picture is clear and our knowledge of the story seems sufficiently complete. But we still do not know what proportion of the present British flora persisted through the Pleistocene maximum; nor have we investigated the mechanisms which enabled certain plants of ‘arctic’ affinity to survive in Britain to the present day. My object here is to deal with aspects of this latter problem—in a manner which I would scarcely dare attempt if I had not spent much of the last decade in various arctic and subarctic lands—first by deciding which plants are to be considered as truly arctic and then by analysing the resultant list of species.
This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution
Access options
Subscribe to this journal
Receive 51 print issues and online access
$199.00 per year
only $3.90 per issue
Buy this article
- Purchase on Springer Link
- Instant access to full article PDF
Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Proc Linn. Soc., Session 151, 131 (1939).
Names and other details of the individual species and varieties concerned will be published in the Journal of Botany, 77 (September, 1939).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
POLUNIN, N. Arctic Plants in the British Isles. Nature 144, 352–354 (1939). https://doi.org/10.1038/144352a0
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/144352a0
Comments
By submitting a comment you agree to abide by our Terms and Community Guidelines. If you find something abusive or that does not comply with our terms or guidelines please flag it as inappropriate.