342609e Poa pratensis subsp. colpodea (Th. Fr.) Tzvelev
Distribution
Kanin - Pechora: Scattered
Svalbard - Franz Joseph Land: Frequent
Polar Ural - Novaya Zemlya: Frequent
Yamal - Gydan: Frequent
Taimyr - Severnaya Zemlya: Frequent
Anabar - Onenyo: Frequent
Kharaulakh: Frequent
Yana - Kolyma: Frequent
West Chukotka: Frequent
Wrangel Island: Frequent
East Chukotka: Frequent
Northern Alaska - Yukon: Scattered
Central Canada: Scattered
Hudson Bay - Labrador: Rare
Ellesmere Island: Scattered
Western Greenland: Rare
Eastern Greenland: Scattered
Polar desert: Rare
Northern arctic Tundra: Frequent
Mid Arctic Tundra: Frequent
Southern Arcti Tundra: Scattered
Shrub Tundra: Rare
- Tzvelev, Novosti Sist. Vyssh. Rast. 9: 47 (1972). - Poa stricta subsp. colpodea Th. Fr., Öfvers. Förh. Kongl. Svenska Vetensk.-Akad. 26, 2: 138 (1870). Holotype (S!): Svalbard: Spitsbergen, Liefdebay, leg. Th. Fries. - Poa alpigena var. colpodea (Th. Fr.) Schol., Skr. Svalbard Nordishavet 62: 89 (1934). - Poa rigens subsp. colpodea (Th. Fr.) D. Löve, Taxon 17: 89 (1968). - Poa alpigena subsp. colpodea (Th. Fr.) Jurtz. & V.V. Petrovsky, Byull. Moskovsk. Obshch. Isp. Prir., Otd. Biol. 85, 6: 100 (1980). - Poa pratensis var. colpodea (Th. Fr.) Soreng, Phytologia 71: 403-404 (1991).
2n=
(1) 35 37 (5x). - Canada, Greenland. - Holmen (1952); Jørgensen et al. (1958); Hedberg (1967).
(2) 42 (6x). - Far East (N). - Zhukova and Petrovsky (1976, 1980); Petrovsky and Zhukova (1981).
(3) 51+5ff (ca. 7x). - Europe (Svalbard). - Flovik (1938).
(4) 56 60 (8x). - Siberia (N), Far East (N). - Zhukova (1967a, 1968); Zhukova and Petrovsky (1976, 1980); Zhukova et al. (1977).
Geography: Circumpolar: NOR RUS SIB RFE ALA CAN GRL.
Notes: Haugen and Elven: Haugen (2000) compared subsp. colpodea in Svalbard with Poa pratensis subsp. alpigena and with P. arctica s. lat. She found subsp. colpodea consistently different from subsp. alpigena and P. arctica in morphology and enzymes. We have the same field experience from several regions. There is a morphologically distinct, widespread high-arctic plant. We accept subsp. colpodea as a taxon, at least at rank of subspecies. It has a consistent range in the High Arctic and it appears to be morphologically uniform throughout. The material we have confirmed is from northern Alaska, northern Canada, Greenland, Svalbard, Franz Joseph Land, northern Yakutia, and Wrangel Island. Accepted chromosome numbers based on Norwegian and Canadian plants are 2n = (35), 37, and ca. 51, whereas the Russians are 2n = 42 and 56, i.e., in the same range.
Soreng et al. (2003) and Soreng (2007) accepted subsp. colpodea but included in it "P. alpigena var. vivipara". There are several morphologically different bulbil-reproducing plants in the affinity of subsp. alpigena. In Svalbard and Greenland, bulbil-reproducing biotypes of subsp. alpigena (described as var. vivipara) are much more common than is subsp. colpodea. These plants have morphologically similar seminiferous counterparts, whereas we know of no such counterpart for subsp. colpodea. In the investigations of Haugen (2000), viviparous subsp. colpodea differed consistently in isoenzymes from both P. arctica and P. pratensis subsp. alpigena. The viviparous forms of these did not differ much from their seminiferous counterparts. We therefore accept subsp. colpodea, whereas we consider the other viviparous plants as heterogeneous sprouting forms.
Higher Taxa
- Poa pratensis [342609,species]