420207 Cerastium arcticum Lange
Distribution
Northern Iceland: Rare
Svalbard - Franz Joseph Land: Frequent
Polar Ural - Novaya Zemlya: Scattered
Central Canada: Scattered
Hudson Bay - Labrador: Frequent
Ellesmere Island: Frequent
Western Greenland: Frequent
Eastern Greenland: Frequent
Polar desert: Frequent
Northern arctic Tundra: Frequent
Mid Arctic Tundra: Frequent
Southern Arcti Tundra: Frequent
Shrub Tundra: Scattered
- Lange, Fl. Dan. 17, 50: 7, t. 2963 (1880). Lectotype (UPS!): Greenland: Upernivik, leg. J. Vahl (Hultén 1956: 449). - Cerastium nigrescens subsp. arcticum (Lange) P.S. Lusby, Watsonia 16: 295 (1987).
- Cerastium hyperboreum Tolm., Skr. Svalbard Nordishavet 34: 6 (1930). Holotype (S!): Norway: Svalbard, Spitsbergen, Van Mijen Bay, leg. J. Lagercrantz. - Cerastium arcticum subsp. hyperboreum (Tolm.) Böcher, Bot. Not. 130: 306 (1977).
- Cerastium alpinum var. procerum Lange, Meddel. Grønland 3, 2: 245 (1887). Described from Greenland. Several syntypes cited. - Cerastium arcticum var. procerum (Lange) Hultén, Svensk Bot. Tidskr. 50: 451 (1956). - Cerastium arcticum subsp. procerum (Lange) Böcher, Bot. Not. 130: 307 (1977).
- Cerastium arcticum var. vestitum Hultén, Svensk Bot. Tidskr. 50: 453 (1956). Described from northern and northeastern Canada, Greenland, Iceland, Jan Mayen, Svalbard, Bear Island, and Novaya Zemlya. Hundreds of syntypes cited.
2n=
(1) 108 (6x). - Europe (Svalbard), Greenland. - At least four reports, see Brysting (2000) with references to previous reliable counts.
(2) 130-132. - Greenland. - Brysting (2000, possibly an aneuploid number found in several plants in one population).
Not included: Mosquin and Hayley (1966) reported 2n = ca. 72, ca. 83, and ca. 98 for this species from Ellesmere and Melville islands in Canada. These numbers rather suggest C. beeringianum and some hybrids between that species and C. arcticum.
Geography: North American (N) - amphi-Atlantic - European (N): NOR RUS CAN GRL.
Notes: Brysting and Elven: Cerastium arcticum is a polymorphic and genetically variable high polyploid species, but the intricate system of subspecific categories proposed by Hultén (1956) - and his hypothesis of widespread introgression - is not supported by later investigations (Brysting and Elven 2000). Neither are the subspecies proposed by Böcher (1977) supported. Cerastium arcticum is best treated as one variable species that reaches eastwards in Canada from Banks Island, across Greenland, Jan Mayen, and Svalbard, and at least to Novaya Zemlya in northeastern European Russia. The varieties of Lange and Hultén represent morphologically different plants but transitions are very frequent and the pattern appears as a continuum.
Higher Taxa
- Cerastium [4202,genus]