Panarctic Flora

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361206c Ranunculus hyperboreus subsp. tricrenatus (Rupr.) Á. Löve & D. Löve

Distribution

Kanin - Pechora: Scattered
Polar Ural - Novaya Zemlya: Rare
Anabar - Onenyo: Presence uncertain
Kharaulakh: Rare
Yana - Kolyma: Rare
West Chukotka: Presence uncertain
South Chukotka: Presence uncertain
East Chukotka: Rare
Central Canada: Rare
Hudson Bay - Labrador: Rare
Southern Arcti Tundra: Rare
Shrub Tundra: Rare
Bordering boreal or alpine areas: Rare

2n= 32 (4x). - Far East (N). - Zhukova (1966); Zhukova and Tikhonova (1971).

Geography: Circumpolar?: RUS SIB RFE CAN.

Notes: The combination subsp. tricrenatus (Rupr.) Sergienko (1980: 245) is superfluous.

Rebristaya: Ranunculus tricrenatus occurs within the range of the other races, sometimes mixed with them, but differs constantly in morphology, e.g., with succulent and little divided leaves. It is a halophyte but not an ecological modification of R. hyperboreus (s. str.). The latter fairly often occurs in and by brackish waters without changing its morphology appreciably.

Yurtsev: Differences from R. hyperboreus s. str.: petioles long arcuate, often rubescent, much longer than leaf blade, the latter oblong–ovate with three short teeth on the upper margin, and ecology: ponds along sea shore (avoids fresh water ponds), sometimes grows side by side with R. hyperboreus (s. str.) (the latter more often sterile). I consider it as more than an ecotype.

Elven and Solstad: We have inspected some of the Russian specimens of subsp. tricrenatus and have seen it in the field (Yakutia and Chukotka) together with both subsp. hyperboreus and subsp. arnellii. We agree that it looks and behaves differently. Rebristaya would prefer to accept a species. Tolmachev (1971b) was more reluctant to accept it but he, nevertheless, reported it from Canada (Hudson Bay). In addition to Russian collections, we have seen specimens inseparable from the Russian ones from the Mackenzie River Delta (Richards Island) and Southampton Island but not from the North Atlantic Arctic. Until further information appears, this plant is accepted as a subspecies of R. hyperboreus. However, variety, if the differences are ecotypical, or species, if they are not, might be more appropriate ranks.

Higher Taxa