Panarctic Flora

330511 Eriophorum chamissonis C.A. Mey.

• C.A. Mey. in Ledeb., Fl. Altaic. 1: 70 (1829). Lectotype (LE): Alaska: the Aleutian Islands, "Unalaschka", leg. Eschscholtz (Novoselova 1993: 88).
• Eriophorum altaicum sensu Á. Löve & D. Löve (1975a), non Meinsh. (1901). See notes below.

Geography: American Pacific: ALA?

Notes: Novoselova: Novoselova (1993) discussed the question of the identity of Eriophorum chamissonis C.A. Mey. There are several points of view in the literature concerning the possible use of the name E. chamissonis and its restrictions. Fernald (1905) and Juzepczuk (1935) regarded E. chamissonis as a species and E. russeolum and E. medium as synonymous with it. Raymond (1954) was almost of the same view but he did not regard E. russeolum and E. medium as synonymous with it. Hultén (1927) suggested to reject the name E. chamissonis because it was erroneously applied for a long time to the plant otherwise known as E. russeolum and its further use would be a source of confusion. Tolmachev (1966a) considered E. chamissonis a nomen confusum because of the non-homogeneous type material.

Eriophorum chamissonis was described by C.A. Meyer in Ledebour's "Flora Altaica" in 1829. He cited specimens collected by K. Ledebour and A. Bunge on the rivers Uba and Tschuja (the Altai) and specimens collected by A. Chamisso and I. Eschscholtz in Unalaska (the Aleutian Islands). In the protologue, the name E. intermedium Cham. in litt. is quoted as a synonym of E. chamissonis. Chamisso assigned the name E. intermedium to the plants from Unalaska, the description of which he sent to Meyer. If published, it would be a later homonym of E. intermedium Bastard and that is why Meyer named it as E. chamissonis. The protologue of E. chamissonis was therefore based on two different plants, one with white fruiting heads from the Altai and one with red fruiting heads from Unalaska.

We have not found the Ledebour and Bunge specimens in the herbarium (LE), although Raymond (1954) stated that he got a photo of one of them from LE and saw duplicates in GH, BM, and P. The photo of an Altai specimen ("Eriophorum Chamissonis C.A. Mey. var. br.... Bunge. Altai. Tschuja") in Raymond's paper looks like E. humile Turcz. ex Steud. 1855. If we had chosen the lectotype of E. chamissonis among Altai specimens it would be synonymous with E. humile Elven: and a priority name for that species, and the plant from Unalaska should be described as a new species. This is in contradiction with the principle of nomenclatural stability. Therefore, we chose as lectotype of E. chamissonis the plant with red fruiting heads collected by Eschscholtz in Unalaska ("Legit Eschsch. in Unalaschka") and of which description was sent to Meyer: "Eriophorum intermedium Cham. in literis" (LE). There is only one discrepancy with the protologue. Meyer stated that E. chamissonis has glabrate achenes, whereas the designated type specimen in fact has short spicules in the achene apex. Meyer probably did not notice them.

Also Raymond (1954) suggested that the lectotype of E. chamissonis should be chosen among the specimens collected by Chamisso and Eschscholtz. He presented photos of two possible specimens. They are both kept in LE and have been investigated. The first specimen was collected in Unalaska ("Eriophorum Chamissonis C.A. Mey. Er. dubium Cham. Unalaschka. Chamisso"). The plant has poorly developed fruiting heads with definitely white bristles. Our opinion is that this specimen can not be chosen because Meyer pointed out that the Unalaska plants had red fruiting heads. The second specimen ("Eriophorum Chamissonis C.A. Mey. Ad fretum Seniavin, Mertens") was collected in East Chukotka (and not in Kamchatka, as Raymond stated). Also this specimen has a poorly developed white fruiting head and is unsuitable as a lectotype. Elven: And at that locality it belongs to either [E. scheuchzeri s. lat. or E. russeolum subsp. leiocarpum.]

Eriophorum chamissonis is a North American plant distributed in the Aleutian Islands and the coastal Pacific areas (to British Columbia and Vancouver Island) and in southern parts of Canada and northern U.S.A. (up to the Labrador Peninsula and Newfoundland). Raymond (1954) reported several localities in Chukotka and Kamtchatka but our investigations did not confirm this. Elven and Murray: Cayouette (2004) restricted [E. chamissonis to Pacific North America and inspected specimens north to the Aleutian Islands. Our investigation of the material supports that view. Eriophorum chamissonis is a strictly Pacific species, possibly reaching the Arctic in southwestern Alaska. The eastern North American plants referred to by Novoselova belong within E. russeolum.]

Eriophorum chamissonis has culms stout, 2-3 mm in diameter, that stay terete in the herbarium; fruiting heads large, 4-4.5 (5) cm long, dense, widely obovate or almost spherical, brownish red Elven and Murray: to nearly white; the outermost scale narrow and (1.5) 1.8-2 (3) cm long, the other scales with narrow pale margins and numerous reddish stripes; anthers short, 1-1.5 (2) mm; achenes elliptical, usually with spicules at apex. Our description coincides with that of Raymond (1954). Raymond (1954) distinguished a form with white fruiting heads - f. turneri Raymond - distributed throughout the range of E. chamissonis. Our investigations did not confirm this variety. Elven and Murray: Ours do.

Elven and Murray: North American authors have until recently confused E. chamissonis and E. russeolum and mostly applied the former name for this collective. The two are related but differ in numerous characters (see Novoselova above), not least in the globular heads in E. chamissonis vs. often narrowly elliptic ones in E. russeolum; abundant red cells in bracts and scales vs. very few; much stouter growth in the former vs. often very slender in the latter; achenes with apical spicules vs. without (in Beringian E. russeolum); and in mostly but not always deeply rusty red wool vs. pale rusty to mostly white (in Beringian E. russeolum). Eriophorum chamissonis is a very distinctive (and beautiful) North Pacific plant reaching north to southern Alaska. We have not yet found specimens from the Arctic. However, putative hybrids with E. russeolum occur on Nunivak Island in the Arctic and with E. scheuchzeri subsp. scheuchzeri in the Bethel area in the Borderline Arctic, both in southwestern Alaska. We assume that there are arctic occurrences of E. chamissonis in these not very well explored areas. Hybrids occur with both the mentioned species also elsewhere, partly slightly outside the documented range of E. chamissonis. They uniformly have aborting anthers or shrunken achenes (or both) and support E. chamissonis as a species reproductivelly isolated from E. russeolum.

Elven and Novoselova: Löve and Löve (1975a) included something they named E. altaicum Meinsh. from Siberia, both sides of Beringia, and from Canada. We assume that the Löves applied this name more or less synonymous with E. chamissonis C.A. Mey. in its previous wide meaning. The Löves seem to have transferred, uncritically, the distribution of everything named E. chamissonis to E. altaicum. However, Novoselova recognizes E. altaicum as a different (non-arctic) species.