Panarctic Flora

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341601 Deschampsia cespitosa subsp. cespitosa (L.) P. Beauv.

Distribution

Northern Iceland: Frequent
Northern Fennoscandia: Frequent
Kanin - Pechora: Scattered
Svalbard - Franz Joseph Land: Persistent (Adventive)
Polar Ural - Novaya Zemlya: Rare
Western Alaska: Persistent (Adventive)
Western Greenland: Persistent (Adventive)
Mid Arctic Tundra: Casual (Adventive)
Southern Arcti Tundra: Persistent (Adventive)
Shrub Tundra: Frequent
Bordering boreal or alpine areas: Frequent

2n= (1) 26 (2x). - Europe, Siberia (W), Far East (N)? - Numerous reports.
(2) 28 (2x). - Europe. - Numerous, mainly old reports.
(3) 52 (4x). - Europe (Scotland, Norway). - McAllister (1973); Engelskjøn (1979, reported to be a viviparous, probably autotetraploid biotype).
Evidence points towards this species being diploid with 2n = 26 and with occasional autopolyploidy. The 2n = 28 counts may be inexact counts or misinterpretations. Early reports in Deschampsia were often of 2n = 28 and 56, more recent reports of 2n = 26 and 52.

Geography: European - Asian (W): ICE NOR RUS ALA* GRL*.

Notes: Subspecies cespitosa is probably the major or only race of the species in the Arctic. For subsp. glauca (Deschampsia glauca), see D. anadyrensis and Excluded taxa.

We consider D. cespitosa native to Europe, western Asia, and the surroundings of the Mediterranean Sea, and as adventive in other parts of the world. Chiapella et al. in Soreng et al. (2003) obviously had another view. Five of their six North American races within D. cespitosa are rare or marginal to the continent, which must mean that they assign almost all boreal and arctic North American mainland material (except for the Arctic and Bering Sea coasts) to D. cespitosa s. str. The northwestern North American material of native plants differs from D. cespitosa s. str. as we know it from Europe. Barkworth (2007b) had a slightly more restricted view of North American D. cespitosa with three races, two as arctic: subsp. beringensis (North Pacific shores in both Asia and North America) and subsp. cespitosa (trans-continental).

Higher Taxa