440103-04 The Claytonia acutifolia aggregate C. acutifolia, C. eschscholtzii
Geography: Asian (NE) - amphi-Beringian.
Notes: Yurtsev: The two tetraploids Claytonia acutifolia and C. eschscholtzii, together with the diploid C. soczavaeana [soczavana] Jurtz. in mountain areas of subarctic northeastern Siberia and southern and eastern Siberia, constitute a clear group characterized by bracts at the base of the inflorescence and by a membranous sheath of leaves. Leaves are born in a monopodial rosette on the taproot. Claytonia acutifolia is mainly or exclusively Asian, whereas C. eschscholtzii is mainly northwestern North American, in Asia restricted to the easternmost Chukchi Peninsula. Here, the two are sympatric without any transitional forms. Claytonia eschscholtzii replaces the acidophilous C. acutifolia on basic substrates. The leaves of C. eschscholtzii are almost linear and without petioles (sessile) and the blade gradually transforms into dilatated membranous sheath, whereas even narrow-leaved forms of C. acutifolia have a true petiole. Despite the similarity of C. eschscholtzii and C. acutifolia in shape of inflorescence, size, and white or pink colour of flowers, the closer relative of the former seems to be C. soczavaeana.
Elven and Murray: Miller (2003) and Miller and Chambers (2006) synonymized the names C. acutifolia, C. eschscholtzii, and C. soczavana as ["soczaviana"] but did not give good support for this solution ("The types of C. eschscholtzii and C. soczaviana fall within the variation of C. acutifolia, which we treat as a single polymorphic species.") We have compared a representative material of all three taxa (C. acutifolia, C. eschscholtzii, C. soczavana) and have also compared C. acutifolia and C. eschscholtzii in nearly sympatric field situations in East Chukotka. We find them consistently and disjunctly different. We therefore support Yurtsev's acceptance of three species (two in the Arctic) as we find no argument supporting a merger, except that all three probably are related.
Higher Taxa
- Claytonia [4401,genus]