Panarctic Flora

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410709-11 The Rumex salicifolius aggregate R. hultenii, R. pallidus, R. sibiricus

Geography: Asian (N/C) - amphi-Pacific/Beringian - North American.

Notes: Fernald (1908) and Hultén (1928) discussed the northern plants assigned to Rumex salicifolius and both rejected this Californian name for them. Another often applied name, R. triangulivalvis, is also irrelevant as belonging to a different and much more southern plant. Hultén (1928) described the Asian and Beringian plant as R. sibiricus and found it to differ in several characters from the eastern North American R. pallidus. It occurs, according to him (see map in Hultén 1968a), from northwestern Siberia east to the Northwest Territories in northwestern Canada. Rechinger (unpublished comments in herbarium S) considered the Alaskan plant different from both the Siberian and the eastern North American ones. He distinguished it from Nova Scotia R. pallidus on broader and relatively shorter leaves and on less branched inflorescence with shorter and more erect branches. He stated that it is even more different from the Siberian plant than from R. pallidus. Mosyakin (2005) accepted R. hultenii, R. pallidus, R. sibiricus, and R. subarcticus but indicated that R. subarcticus well could be regarded a subspecies of R. pallidus. Tzvelev commented that the material available from northeastern Asia is immature and difficult to identify (as R. sibiricus or R. hultenii). Until these plants are studied further, we accept this aggregate with three species and with "subarcticus" a subspecies.

Higher Taxa