Borovichev E.A. Botanical excursion on the Northern Soroya. Hammerfest, 2014.

have been observed all over northern Lapland. Microclimate of mires (especially of bogs) is severe for plants because o f contrasting substrate water and temperature regime, low nutritional supply and high acidity of the substrata. Among “specialists” growing on mires there are Cottongrass ( Eriophorum angustifolium ), Bog Rosemary (Andromeda polifolia ) and sedges (Carex rostrata, C. aquatilis, C. rotundata ), as well as Deer Grass (Trichophorum cespitosum) and Horsetails (Equisetum fluviatile and Equisetum palustre). Sphagnum mosses are the commonest components o f mires: there are a number of different Sphagnum species on dry hummocks as well as in soggy hollows. Mires o f the Seraya Island are habitats for birds which forage and breed on small lakes and surrounding bogs and fens. Round Sedge (Carex rotundata) has separated pistillate (lower spikes) and staminate (higher spikes) inflorescences Photo N. Koroleva On gentle slopes andflat hilltops in the alpine zone there are mires with distinct hummocky microrelief. Hummocks are obviously relicfrom so-called Little Ice Age, which occurred in Scandinavia between the !6th and 18th centuries. These hummocks (named in Finland ‘pounikkos') wereformed due to afrozen ice core in the peat surrounded by mineral soil 55