Panarctic Flora

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342003b Calamagrostis purpurascens subsp. laricina (Louis-Marie) Elven

Distribution

Central Canada: Rare
Hudson Bay - Labrador: Presence uncertain
Western Greenland: Rare
Southern Arcti Tundra: Presence uncertain
Shrub Tundra: Scattered
Bordering boreal or alpine areas: Scattered

2n= 56 (8x). - Greenland. - Jørgensen et al. (1958, two counts).

Geography: North American (NE): CAN GRL.

Notes: Elven and Murray: Greene (1980, 1984) included Calamagrostis poluninii in C. purpurascens var. laricina based on his investigation of type material. Sørensen's (1954) description of C. poluninii was made without reference to Louis-Marie's (1946) description of var. laricina. Greene seems to have been the first to compare them. We agree with his synonymization. Yurtsev (in comment) proposed specific rank for C. poluninii based on the description by Böcher et al. (1978) of stolons and the awn not exserted from spikelet. If retained at rank of species, C. poluninii 1954 has priority before C. laricina 1958. We follow Greene's opinion based on comparison of types and also our own consideration that var./subsp. laricina + C. poluninii on one hand and var./subsp. purpurascens on the other are too similar (and possibly with transitions) to be acceptable as two species. Phytogeographically, the southwestern Greenland plant named as C. poluninii is an eastwards extension of the range of the northeastern North American C. purpurascens subsp. laricina. We have only observed aborting anthers (i.e., assumed agamospermy) in this subspecies.

Higher Taxa