_Of the_ Laplanders _Trees and Plants_.
I descend from their Animals to their Trees and Plants, with which they
are well stored, tho _Jovius_ observes that they have no fruit Trees,
as Apple, Pear, &c. neither have they any wild Trees which will not
bear the cold, as Oak, Beach, which _Ol. Pet._ takes notice of, but
adds that they have plenty of Pine and Fir, Juniper and Birch, Service
tree, and Willow, Alder and Dog-tree, the Asp and Ollar: but these
Trees do not grow every where, for the Mountains called the _Fells_,
between _Norway_ and _Lapland_, bear no Trees at all: _Pet. Claud._
thinks the reason of that to be the continual storm of wind that is
on them, but perhaps a truer reason may be the extremity of cold. The
ground that lies near the Mountains is thick set with Woods, with this
distinction that the parts next them bears nothing but Birch tree,
remarkable for their thickness and height, and pleasant prospect,
Nature having contrived them so regularly that they seem afar off to be
some pleasant Garden. The soil more distant from those Hills, besides
Birch-trees, hath Fir and Pitch, which seems like some new kind of
wood, composed of these three sorts.
Besides these, there are very few others found in _Lapland_. Shrubs,
especially Currans, or Ribes are very frequent, but they regard not
these because perhaps the tast is unpleasant, especially of those
which bear Black-berries, which are more numerous than the others. The
Junipers grow thick, being very tall and comely. This Country yields
all manner of Berries, the chief are those which the _Swedes_ call
_Hiortron_, some Dew-berries, or the _Norway_ Berry, whose species is
the same that grows on Brambles, each Berry being divided as it were
into graines of a pale yellow color, beginning to be red as they ripen.
These commonly grow in marshy places. They creep on the ground, and
are sustained by little props, so that they ought not to be reckoned
among shrubs. The Berries are very wholsome, and are a present remedy
for the Scurvy. The Inhabitants delight to eat them with their flesh
and salt meats, as I mentioned before. They have a sort of black
Berries, called by the _Swedes_, _Halton_, according to _Olaus Pet._
also the thin leaved heath, that bears a Berry, which some call ground
Ewe, the _Swedes_, _Kraokebær_, the lesser black Berries called in
_Swedland_ _Lingon_, and the lesser black Berries called _Blaobær_,
all which _Olaus Pet._ takes notice of, speaking of their manner of
dressing meat, particularly of the Heath-berries: whence it appears
that these Berries were as plentifull with them as the former. They
have all sorts of other Berries, tho the Natives do not so much value
them. This Country affords very usefull Herbs, such as are Angelica,
which the Inhabitant value so much that they call it the _Lapland_
herb, or Samigraes: they are much pleased with it in their meat: it
grows with a short stalk, but thick. In the same place is found Sorrel,
which they use too in their food. Some particular herbs they have
which are not found any where else, as _Calceolum Lapponicum_, or
_Brassica Rangiferorum_: what sort of herb it is _Sam. Rheen_ expresses
in these words, which, tho tedious, I thought fit to transcribe that
we might have his exact opinion it. There grows (saith he) an herb
which they call _Calceolum Lapponicum_ because its flower is like the
_Laplanders_ shoe, it is of a blew colour with three rowes of seed
in the pod, it has larger leaves than the vulgar cabbage, its stalk
is a finger thick and the root bitter: it grows extraordinary fast,
and rises to three cubits in height, and somtimes more: it is thought
a bad and unprofitable herb because no beast will tast of it. There
is another herb very usefel and wholesome, and of great esteem among
them, which _Olaus Pet._ take to be like a carrot, he says it is called
_Mosaraoth_, haveing the tast and flower of Pimpervel growing in marshy
grounds to an ell in height. That _Mosaraoth_ is not a _Lapland_ but
_Swedish_ name, from _maosa_ which signifies marshy places where mosse
grows, what the inhabitants call it, I cannot yet learn. And these are
the peculiar herbs which this country hath: I have not met with any
one that could help me to the exact shape of them. But altho this soil
beare some peculiar herbs, yet there are not many species of them,
which _Olaus Pet._ gathers from the _west-Bothnia_, which borders on
_Lapland_, for in that place there are found but very few.
I come now to Mosse, which is of diverse sorts. The first is tree
Mosse, with a kind of long wool, hanging down from the boughs,
especially of the Pitch tree, and somtimes from others. The 2^d. which
is very plentiful and affords food for the raindeers in the winter is
ground Mosse, of a white colour, with long thin leaves growing a foot
high. The 3^d. is ground mosse, but softer of a more delicate yellow
green: this is pernicious to the foxes, which the inhabitants cut small
and mix with their baits to catch them. The 4^{th}. is also ground
mosse, short and soft, of a very fine colour, which because it is so
fine they use instead of feathers to lay under Infants new born. I
hear of a 5^{th}. sort with larger and longer leaves, which they call
_Fathne_, good against fainting if it be bruised and drank in broth,
but I doubt whether this be Mosse, I had rather believe it _Angelica_
cut small prepared and boiled under ground. The last thing which is to
be mentioned is Grasse, which is of diverse kinds, the best sort is
that which is found in the vallies near the mauntains called _Fells_,
being short, soft, and juicy; that which grows in other places is
thicker, rougher, and dryer. There is a 3^d sort thin and slender which
the inhabitants use for stuffing of their shoes, and gloves, to defend
their feet and hands from the weather. And these are all the trees,
shrubs, and herbs of _Lapland_.