341606c Deschampsia sukatschewii subsp. borealis (Trautv.) Tzvelev
Distribution
Kanin - Pechora: Rare
Svalbard - Franz Joseph Land: Scattered
Polar Ural - Novaya Zemlya: Scattered
Yamal - Gydan: Scattered
Taimyr - Severnaya Zemlya: Frequent
Anabar - Onenyo: Scattered
Kharaulakh: Scattered
Yana - Kolyma: Scattered
West Chukotka: Frequent
Wrangel Island: Frequent
South Chukotka: Scattered
East Chukotka: Rare
Western Alaska: Rare
Northern Alaska - Yukon: Rare
Central Canada: Rare
Hudson Bay - Labrador: Rare
Ellesmere Island: Rare
Western Greenland: Scattered
Eastern Greenland: Scattered
Northern arctic Tundra: Presence uncertain
Mid Arctic Tundra: Scattered
Southern Arcti Tundra: Frequent
Shrub Tundra: Frequent
Bordering boreal or alpine areas: Frequent
- Tzvelev, Novosti Sist. Vyssh. Rast. 32: 182 (2000). - Aira cespitosa var. borealis Trautv., Trudy Imp. S.-Peterburgsk. Bot. Sada 1: 86 (1871). Lectotype (LE): Siberia: "Ad fl. Taimyr", 1843, leg. Middendorff (Tzvelev 1976: 283). - Deschampsia borealis (Trautv.) Roshev., Fl. URSS 2: 246, 750 (1934). - Deschampsia cespitosa subsp. borealis (Trautv.) Á. Löve & D. Löve, Opera Bot. 5: 65 (1961).
- ?Deschampsia brevifolia var. pumila Griseb. in Ledeb., Fl. Ross. 4: 422 (1852). Holotype (LE): Russian Far East: Kamtchatka, Herb. Trinius. - Deschampsia pumila (Griseb.) Ostenf., Meddel. Grønland 64, 6: 169 (1923), non (Steven ex Westb.) Fomin & Woronow (1907).
- ?Deschampsia paramushirensis Honda, J. Fac. Sci. Univ. Tokyo, sect. 3, Bot. 1: 140 (1930). Described from the Paramushir Islands (Japan). - Deschampsia cespitosa subsp. paramushirensis (Honda) Tzvelev, Zlaki SSSR: 283 (1976).
- ?Deschampsia cespitosa f. minor Kom., Fl. Kamtschatka 1: 152 (1927). Holotype (LE): Russian Far East: Kamtchatka, "systema lac. Kronotzkoje, Krascheninnikov-mons", 18. Aug. 1909, leg. V.L. Komarov. - Deschampsia sukatschewii subsp. minor (Kom.) Tzvelev, Fl. Arct. URSS 2: 85 (1964).
- Deschampsia brevifolia auct. spitsb., non R. Br. (1824).
2n=
(1) 24-26 26 (2x). - Europe (N), Far East (N), Greenland. - Numerous reports.
(2) 39 36-42 (3x). - Far East (N), Greenland. - At least five reports, two from Chukotka and three from Greenland.
(3) 52 (4x). - Far East (N). - At least three reports.
Geography: Circumpolar: NOR RUS SIB RFE ALA CAN GRL.
Notes: Aiken: This taxon has been recognized in Canada recently as Deschampsia paramushirensis Honda. Previously it has generally been known in Canada as D. pumila (Porsild 1957; Bowden 1960b; Hultén 1968a, 1968b). Tzvelev (1976) recognized that D. pumila (Griseb.) Ostenf. is a later homonym of D. pumila (Steven ex Westb.) Fomin & Woronow, referable to a species of Catabrosa. He recognized the taxon at the subspecific level as D. cespitosa subsp. paramushirensis and distinguished it from D. cespitosa subsp. borealis. Hultén (1968b) placed the name D. borealis (Trautv.) Roshev. into synonymy under D. pumila. Tzvelev (PAF proposal) synonymized "paramushirensis" and "borealis". McLachlan et al. (1989: Table 2) compared characters from Canadian and Eurasian specimens in the genus Deschampsia.
Elven: Circumscribed as above, this subspecies is a high-arctic and nearly circumpolar plant of tundra fens and wet gravel flats, mostly on basic substrates, with leaves narrow to nearly filiform, panicle open and pale, spikelets small, and awn distinctly exserted. It has variously been named in Greenland and North America as D. pumila or D. paramushirensis, in Svalbard by, e.g., Rønning (1964, 1979) erroneously as D. brevifolia, and in Russia as D. borealis. One problem is whether the Japanese ("paramushirensis") and the Kamtchatkan plants ("pumila", "minor") belong to the same taxon as the ones of the High Arctic. I suspect not. Another problem on the North American side is whether this also is the coastal plant in the southern arctic parts, or if subsp. orientalis extends eastwards as suggested by Hultén (1968a) and Tzvelev (PAF proposal). My not very well founded opinion is that this coastal plant, and also a plant in mainland mountains, might correspond to "paramushirensis" (and "orientalis") and might differ enough from the 'moss cushion' plant in the High Arctic, here named as "borealis", so as to merit racial recognition.
Jørgensen et al. (1958) concluded that eastern Greenland plants with 2n = ca. 26 and western Greenland ones with 2n = ca. 39 were morphologically similar. All have mostly aborted pollen. Agamospermy has not been much discussed in connection with Deschampsia. It should be noted that species of Deschampsia have no means of long-range vegetative growth. Where they form extensive populations, as these arctic Deschampsias mostly do, some means of seed (or bulbil) propagation must be assumed.
Higher Taxa
- Deschampsia sukatschewii [341606,species]