Panarctic Flora

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600101 Myrica gale L.

Distribution

Western Alaska: Rare
Northern Alaska - Yukon: Rare
Central Canada: Rare
Hudson Bay - Labrador: Rare
Shrub Tundra: Rare
Bordering boreal or alpine areas: Frequent

GBIF

2n= 48 80 96. - See subspecies.

Geography: Amphi-Pacific - North American (N) - amphi-Atlantic: ALA CAN.

Notes: Hultén and Fries (1986) recognized and mapped two allopatric races of Myrica gale: the broadly amphi-Atlantic var. gale and the amphi-Pacific var. tomentosa. The reported (and observed) morphological differences are small and mainly concern hairiness. Ploidy levels run across this division. Eurasian plants are reported to be hexaploids, whereas both hexaploids and dodecaploids (and perhaps decaploids) are reported from the amphi-Pacific and North American plants. Hultén (1968a) mapped the Mackenzie River Delta plants as var. tomentosa. However, a superficial survey of material (ALA, CAN, DAO) supports a North American boundary between the races well west of the Mackenzie River. Bornstein (1997) did not discuss the variation for North America. The races are entered provisionally.

Higher Taxa