640802a Dryas ajanensis subsp. beringensis Jurtz.
Distribution
East Chukotka: Frequent
Western Alaska: Frequent
Northern Alaska - Yukon: Frequent
Eastern Greenland: Presence uncertain
Southern Arcti Tundra: Rare
Shrub Tundra: Frequent
Bordering boreal or alpine areas: Frequent
- Jurtz., Fl. Arct. URSS 9, 1: 322, 268 (1984). Holotype (LE): Russian Far East: East Chukotka, "freti Senjavini, prope pagum Janrakynnot", 21. Aug. 1977, leg. B. Yurtsev and S. Balandin.
- Dryas ajanensis var. incanescens Kozhevn., Bot. Zhurn. 64: 486 (1979). Holotype (LE): Russian Far East: East Chukotka, "sinus Providenia", 12. July 1938, leg. B.N. Gorodkov. See notes.
- Dryas incanescens auct., non Juz. (1929).
2n=
18 (2x). - Far East (Chukotka). - Zhukova (1965a); Zhukova et al. (1973). The latter for D. incanescens.
Geography: Amphi-Beringian: RFE ALA CAN? GRL?
Notes: Elven and Murray: Subspecies beringensis is the only part of Dryas ajanensis (sensu Yurtsev) that reaches the Arctic. Yurtsev's suggestion, that this race is a Pleistocene Beringian isolate from the otherwise more southern plants in eastern Asia, seems feasible.
Another question is whether all Beringian plants with crenate leaves and feathery hairs but without glands belong here. Our supposition is that they do and that D. octopetala is absent from northeastern Asia and North America. This supposition finds some support in the referred AFLP patterns where all Beringian plants (samples identified as D. ajanensis subsp. beringensis, D. incisa, D. integrifolia, and D. punctata subsp. alaskensis and subsp. punctata) belong to the same main group. The number of analysed samples is, however, small.
Yurtsev: Dryas ajanensis subsp. beringensis is predominantly canescent. A form with subglabrous upper leaf surface was described as var. viridis Jurtz., Fl. Arct. URSS 9, 1: 322 (1984), and was reported throughout the range of subsp. beringensis.
Elven: To var. incanescens. Kozhevnikov (1979) based his name on D. incanescens Juz., Izv. Glavn. Bot. Sada SSSR 28: 319 (1929), but specified another type collected nine years after Juzepczuk's name was published, in 1938. Yurtsev considered Kozhevnikov's variety and Juzepczuk's species to be different. I am in doubt whether it is possible to overlook Kozhevnikov's quite precise reference to the basionym and his type may have to be rejected.
Higher Taxa
- Dryas ajanensis [640802,species]