640601 Rosa acicularis Lindl.
- Lindl., Ros. Monogr.: 44, t. 8 (1820). Holotype: Siberia, based on live material. Lindl., Ros. Monogr.: t. 8. 1820. (See Heath 1990: 494).
2n=
(1) 28 (4x), (2) 42 (6x), (3) 56 (8x). - All by Täckholm (1920, 1922).
Not included: A report of 2n = 28 (4x) of very uncertain North American origin (Flory 1950). A report of 2n = 42 (6x) from southern Siberia (Rostovtseva 1977) may belong to another species.
Geography: Nearly circumboreal.
Notes: Two races or species have been proposed. Rosa acicularis subsp. acicularis (R acicularis s. str.) is mainly Eurasian, octoploid, and with glandular pedicels; subsp. sayi (R. sayi) is mainly North American, assumedly hexaploid, and with glabrous pedicels. A ploidy difference could give support to species rank but the number of counts from the American side is fairly low. There may be some more subtle morphological differences between these two but they are similar in most features, parapatric, possibly connected by some intermediates, and at present we do not want to accept them as species.
The extent of their ranges has been discussed. Gladkova (PAF proposal) drew the line along the Bering Strait. Hultén (1968a) reported some plants from central Alaska and the Yukon Territory with glandular pedicels (i.e., Eurasian subsp. acicularis). Such possible presence of subsp. acicularis in Alaska was supported by a report of an octoploid chromosome count. Hultén and Fries (1986) mapped the otherwise North American subsp. sayi from Chukotka and the otherwise Eurasian subsp. acicularis with some range in Alaska and northern Canada.
A rough revision of material (ALA) and field observations in Alaska give support to the view of Hultén and Fries. The two subspecies are morphologically very similar but separable on the pedicel character, and they have different ranges but with an overlap. The mainly North American subsp. sayi occurs as rare on the Russian side (two specimens seen in ALA from East and South Chukotka). The mainly Eurasian subsp. acicularis occurs as rare in Alaska and the Yukon Territory, reaching the Arctic on the Seward Peninsula, otherwise confined to interior areas including the Fairbanks area from where came the plant that was counted as octoploid.
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Rosa acicularis, AKA Wild Rose, the Prickly Rose, or the Arctic Rose
Source: Ravedave at Wikispecies
Higher Taxa
- Rosa [6406,genus]