343225 Puccinellia alaskana Scribn. & Merr.
Distribution
East Chukotka: Rare
Western Alaska: Rare
Shrub Tundra: Rare
Bordering boreal or alpine areas: Scattered
- Scribn. & Merr., Contr. U.S. Natl. Herb. 13: 78 (1910). Holotype (US-592343): Alaska: the Pribilof Islands, St. Paul Island, 04. Aug. 1891, leg. Merriam. - Puccinellia langeana subsp. alaskana (Scribn. & Merr.) T.J. Sørensen, Acta Univ. Lund., n. s., sect. 2, 46, 1: 1710 (1950). - Phippsia langeana subsp. alaskana (Scribn. & Merr.) Á. Löve & D. Löve, Bot. Not. 128: 499 (1976). - Puccinellia tenella subsp. alaskana (Scribn. & Merr.) Tzvelev, Zlaki SSSR: 510 (1976).
2n=
14 (2x). - Far East (N), Alaska. - Johnson and Packer (1968, for P. langeana, may be P. tenella subsp. langeana); Probatova and Sokolovskaya (1983b, for P. tenella subsp. alaskana).
Geography: Amphi-Pacific/Beringian: RFE ALA.
Notes: Soreng et al. (2003) synonymized Puccinellia pumila and subsp. alaskana. This needs a critical evaluation. The Bering Sea plant (subsp. alaskana) is reported to be diploid as are P. tenella subsp. tenella and subsp. langeana. The North American P. pumila is reported to be hexaploid and octoploid (see above). Davis and Consaul (2007) accepted all three levels for their species P. pumila but they suggested that P. alaskana probably was specifically different from P. pumila.
Puccinellia alaskana is reported to reach the Arctic at least in East Chukotka, western Alaska (Nunivak Island, Little Diomede Island), and by implication from the chromosome number report perhaps in northwestern Alaska.
Higher Taxa
- Puccinellia [3432,genus]