Panarctic Flora

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421216b Silene involucrata subsp. tenella (Tolm.) Bocquet

Distribution

Northern Fennoscandia: Rare
Kanin - Pechora: Frequent
Polar Ural - Novaya Zemlya: Scattered
Yamal - Gydan: Rare
Taimyr - Severnaya Zemlya: Rare
Mid Arctic Tundra: Presence uncertain
Southern Arcti Tundra: Scattered
Shrub Tundra: Frequent
Bordering boreal or alpine areas: Frequent

2n= 48 (4x). - Europe (N). - Nygren (1949b); Löve (1954b, for Melandrium furcatum subsp. angustiflorum).

Geography: European (N) - Asian (NW): RUS SIB.

Notes: Petrovsky and Elven: Subspecies tenella occurs from northern Fennoscandia throughout northeastern European Russia and northwestern Siberia to the Jenisei River. The three relevant specific names belong to plants described from the two extremes of the range:

(a) Melandrium tenellum. - The "tenella" name has mainly been applied for a slender, tall-grown amphi-Beringian plant (our concept of subsp. involucrata). However, the name is - as stated by Tzvelev - based on a type from the Jenisei River area and belongs to the northeastern European and northwestern Siberian plant. We have inspected the type and agree with Tzvelev.

(b) Lychnis affinis. - The "affinis" name has been applied very widely, mostly for the circumpolar arctic plants, but its type is from one of the westernmost and boreal Fennoscandian populations of this plant. We have not inspected the holotype but have studied several isotypes from the locality at the Alta River. The epithet "affinis" would have priority for a subspecies if it had been used at subspecific level earlier than 1967. We have, however, not found any such combination.

(c) Gastrolychnis vahlii. - The "vahlii" name is based on the same type as "affinis" and was coined (within Gastrolychnis) to honour J. Vahl, the author of "affinis".

The "angustiflora" name, commonly applied for this plant in northern Europe, belongs in Tzvelev's and our opinion to subsp. involucrata.

Higher Taxa