440106 Claytonia arctica Adams
Distribution
Taimyr - Severnaya Zemlya: Presence uncertain
Anabar - Onenyo: Rare
Kharaulakh: Frequent
Yana - Kolyma: Rare
West Chukotka: Scattered
Wrangel Island: Frequent
South Chukotka: Rare
East Chukotka: Scattered
Western Alaska: Rare
Mid Arctic Tundra: Rare
Southern Arcti Tundra: Scattered
Shrub Tundra: Scattered
Bordering boreal or alpine areas: Rare
- Adams, Mém. Soc. Imp. Naturalistes Moscou 5: 94 (1817). Holotype? (LE): Siberia: Yakutia, "ad Bykofsky Mys" in the Lena River estuary, leg. Adams, ex Herb. Fischer. See notes.
2n=
10. - Far East (N). - Zhukova (1966, 1982).
Geography: Asian (N) - amphi-Beringian (W): SIB RFE ALA.
Notes: Murray and Elven: Presence of Claytonia arctica in Alaska are confirmed by specimens from the Aleutian Islands (non-arctic), St. Lawrence Island (GH, S; arctic), and Tin City on the Seward Peninsula (ALA; arctic). The plants from Tin City (collected by R. Lipkin) and St. Lawrence Island are inseparable from Asian C. arctica, even if the last-mentioned one was annotated by both Hultén and Miller as the rather different C. sarmentosa.
Miller and Chambers (2006: 97) designated a lectotype for C. arctica: "without locality probably the Pribilof Islands, without date or collector (... LE!)". A lectotype from the Pribilof Islands, or specified as above, is unacceptable for a multitude of reasons. Firstly, Adams described the species based on his own collections from the Lena River estuary, about 3000 km distant from the Pribilof Islands. Secondly, the species has never been reported from the Pribilof Islands, not in the map of Miller and Chambers either. Thirdly, a lectotype must be chosen among the original material og which there are several sheets from the lower Lena River area annotated by Adams, at least in LE (see above), MW ("In litho glareoso Oceani Septentrionalis ad situm Lenae", M.F. Adams scr.), and S. Whether the LE specimen cited above is a holotype is dubious as there are several original sheets. Pavlov et al. (1978) stated the MW material to be an isotype, suggesting that the holotype or lectotype is elsewhere. Miller and Chambers may have confused C. arctica with C. sarmentosa, also as concerning type, as C. sarmentosa was described with type (LE) from the Pribilof Islands.
Higher Taxa
- Claytonia [4401,genus]