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The mountain regions of Lappland 67Altitude m- 2400-2000Fig. 1. Altitudinal sequence ofvegetational belts in the Scandinavianpeninsula (viewed fromthe east). Altitudes valid for eastside or peak region, respectively.From Sjors 1956.-1600-1200 - eoo c8 vi- 4006S0..0-"'""0z[(1) Not visible: oceanic woodlands of Norway](2) Southern deciduous forest region(3) Southern coniferous forest region (with oak)(4) Northern coniferous forest region (without oak)(5) Subalpine birchwood belt(6) Low-alpine belt(7) Middle-alpine belt(8) High-alpine beltto lower temperature, higher precipitation andmore fertile soils on the Caledonian side, but thesignificance of the geological boundary is not thesame in the south and the north.Since the beginning of the present century theLa pponian mountain area is delimited by an administrativeborder, odlingsgriinsen (the limit of farming). Above this practically all land is publicproperty and farming, although still possible tosome extent, is restricted to a few valleys with oldsettlements. The purpose of this border is to protectthe reindeer grazing -lands of the Same people (theLaps). At least in southern Lappland where thesubject has been studied by the present author thefarming limit corresponds clearly to a shift inphenological and biogeographical conditions.The mountain conifer forest belt orRegio coniferinaThe difference between the forests on the slopesof the mountain range and the uniform forests ofthe valleys and plateaux east of it is easily discernibleto anyone who travels through Lappland.In the time of LINNlEUS the contrast between thevast, then almost uninhabited forested land withits poverty in species and the mountain area withits lush meadow-woodlands and its rich and interestingflora was even more pronounced. This isthe reason why LINNlEUS divided Lappland into"desertum lapponicum" and "alpes lapponicae". ·The conifer forests of the mountain area may beconsidered as the lowest vegetational belt of themountains or as a pre-alpine subregion of the coniferforest region of North Sweden (Du RmTz l950e,1964). Its lower limit is difficult to establishparticularly in northern Lappland. In southernand middle Lappland most (not all) of the prealpinewoodland is west of the boundary betweenthe Caledonian overthrust nappes and the Pre­Cambrian rocks to the east (cf. ''Lapplandeast of themountains"). The mountain area with its Cambro­Silurian schists is rich in favourable, partly evencalcareous soils. This fact together with a higherprecipitation brings about a richer occurrence ofherbaceous plants in the forest belts of the mountainsthan in the eastern woodlands·. Most of theplants typical of rich woods and meadows of NorthSweden are particularly abundant in this belt, e.g.· Geranium silvdticum, Trollius europaeus, Lactucaalpina, M atteuccia struthiopteris, M ilium effusum,Oxalis acetosella, Filipendula ulmaria and manyless demanding herbs and graminids as well, e.g.Melampyrum pratense, M. silvaticum, Maianthemumbifolium, Oornus suecica, Gymnocarpium dryopteris,Luzula pilosa.Above all, the chara·cteristic feature of themountain forests of Sweden is the abundance ofthe two tall, northern herbs Aconitum septentrionaleand Lactuca alpina. The former, however, does notoccur in northern Lappland, north of the StoraLule river. Although by far not restricted to themountains, these plants have their greatest abundancein the subalpine and pre-alpine belts in Sweden.(M. FRIES 1949). On steep slopes with mobile groundActa Phytogeog.r. Suec. 50