Panarctic Flora

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320209a Luzula arcuata subsp. arcuata

Distribution

Northern Iceland: Frequent
Northern Fennoscandia: Scattered
Kanin - Pechora: Scattered
Svalbard - Franz Joseph Land: Scattered
Polar Ural - Novaya Zemlya: Rare
East Chukotka: Scattered
Western Alaska: Scattered
Western Greenland: Presence uncertain
Eastern Greenland: Rare
Mid Arctic Tundra: Rare
Southern Arcti Tundra: Frequent
Shrub Tundra: Frequent
Bordering boreal or alpine areas: Scattered

2n= 36. - Europe (Norway). - Three reports.
Not included: Reports of 2n = 48. Löve and Löve (1975a) cited four reports, three as arctic, but see notes below.

Geography: Amphi-Atlantic (E) & amphi-Beringian: ICE NOR RUS RFE ALA GRL.

Notes: Elven: Occurrence of Luzula arcuata in Greenland has been disputed but is supported by specimens (O) from both southern and eastern Greenland. There probably are more specimens in C.

Egorova et al.: Yurtsev commented that L. arcuata s. str. is a European hypoarctic species with the highest chromosome number (2n = 48) within the L. arcuata aggregate. His argument for specific rank (vs. L. beringensis and L. unalaschkensis) was partly based on an assumption that the Atlantic and the Pacific/Beringian plants differ in chromosome number, as reported by Löve and Löve (1975a). The account of the Löves is, however, erroneous. They assigned all five counts of 2n = 48 to L. arcuata s. str. This is in conflict with their own basic data as they reported this taxon to be absent from Greenland, whereas three of the five counts they reported as support for their opinion are from just Greenland (Holmen 1952; Jørgensen et al. 1958). They also assigned here an occasional 2n = 48 within a population otherwise with 2n = 36 (Knaben 1950). Neglecting their manipulations of data, the chromosomal situation boils down to the following conclusion: L. arcuata s. lat. has 2n = 36 but may occasionally have 2n = 48 (and perhaps 2n = 42), probably in all taxa. In view of the situation elsewhere in Luzula, the difference between 2n = 36 and 48 may just be in number of chromosome fragments.

Higher Taxa