Panarctic Flora

Browse

090402 Gymnocarpium continentale (Petrov) Pojark.

Distribution

Taimyr - Severnaya Zemlya: Present only in the Borderline Arctic
Kharaulakh: Rare
West Chukotka: Rare
South Chukotka: Rare
Western Alaska: Rare
Northern Alaska - Yukon: Presence uncertain
Hudson Bay - Labrador: Rare
Shrub Tundra: Rare
Bordering boreal or alpine areas: Frequent

2n= 160 (4x). - Europe (N), North America. - At least three reports.

Geography: European (N) - Asian (N) - amphi-Beringian - North American (N): SIB RFE ALA CAN.

Notes: In Siberia, Tolmachev (1960) reported the species to reach the Arctic only in Kharaulakh and Danilov (1988b) to reach the Borderline Arctic only in Taimyr. Gymnocarpium continentale is present in northern Fennoscandia but does not reach the Arctic there.

The rank of this tetraploid taxon is disputed, either species (G. continentale, e.g., Sarvela et al. 1981; Pryer et al. 1983; Sarvela 2000a) or subsp. parvulum of the otherwise diploid G. jessoense (Koidz.) Koidz. (Pryer 1993).

Tzvelev: There are numerous intermediates between G. continentale and G. jessoense s. str. It seems strange to keep G. continentale as a species when many other and better defined entities are treated as subspecies.

Elven: If the names G. jessoense and G. continentale connect to, respectively, the diploid and the tetraploid, the existence of frequent intermediates needs support by counts of intermediate chromosome numbers (and spore fertility information) for rank as two subspecies to be the more appropriate choice. It is in accordance with prevailing principles in pteridophyte taxonomy to recognize entities at different ploidy levels as species if supported by morphology. The tetraploids and higher levels very often include two or more different diploid genomes.

Higher Taxa