3309004a Carex rostrata var. borealis (Hartm.) Kük.
Distribution
Northern Fennoscandia: Scattered
Shrub Tundra: Scattered
Bordering boreal or alpine areas: Frequent
- Kük. in Engl., Pflanzenreich IV-20, 38: 723 (1909). - Carex ampullacea Good. var. borealis Hartm., Handb. Skand. Fl.: 39 (1820). Described from northern Scandinavia.
Geography: European (N): NOR RUS.
Notes: Variety borealis differs from C. rostrata in leaves very narrow, involute, without papillae vs. flat to canaliculate with densely papillose dorsal surface; male spikes 1-2 vs. several; female spikes oblong-cylindrical, 1.5-3.5 cm long, and subsessile vs. narrowly cylindrical, longer, and pedunculate; female bracts ovate, dark brown vs. narrowly lanceolate, pale brown; perigynia brownish, with indistinct veins and a short bifid beak vs. yellowish, with prominent veins and a very long, deeply bifid beak (Kükenthal 1909 and own observations). All the deviating characters are in the direction of C. rotundata. Anthers and pollen are usually well developed.
We assume this taxon to be a hybridogeneous, independently reproducing species. Its parentage must be C. rotundata x rostrata but probably due to back-crossing between the primary hybrid and C. rotundata with restoration of fertility.
Kükenthal (1909) reported its range to be Norway (north and south), Sweden (from Dalarne northwards), Finnish and Russian Lapland, and Greenland. Occurrence in Russian Lapland (the Kola Peninsula) is confirmed by Egorova (1999). Occurrence in Greenland is improbable.