660102 Urtica gracilis Aiton
Distribution
Hudson Bay - Labrador: Rare
Shrub Tundra: Rare
Bordering boreal or alpine areas: Frequent
- Aiton, Hort. Kew. 3: 341 (1789). Described from Hudson Bay (Canada). - Urtica dioica subsp. gracilis (Aiton) Selander, Svensk Bot. Tidskr. 41: 271 (1947).
2n=
(1) 26 (2x, x = 13). - Canada, U.S.A.? - At least three reports.
(2) 52 (4x, x = 13). - Canada, U.S.A.? - Taylor and Mulligan (1968); Woodland et al. (1982).
Tetraploids are found in the west, diploids in the intermountain valleys (Woodland et al. 1982).
Geography: North American: CAN.
Notes: Elven and Murray: The plants in coastal southwestern Alaska differ from the inland plants (Urtica gracilis) and correspond to Eurasian Urtica dioica subsp. sondenii. They are more broad-leaved than U. gracilis, sometimes with a cordate base, and generally a little more hairy. The plants of the interior valleys are conspicuously narrow-leaved, yellowish green, and less hairy. The Alaskan material (ALA) available for study has been too scant to say anything about sex distribution among plants. A combined morphological, cytological, and molecular comparison is needed. The plants that reach the Arctic in Alaska are of the coastal type and we assign them to subsp. sondenii, whereas the Canadian ones are of the inland type and belong to U. gracilis. Bassett et al. (1974), in treating the family in Canada, did not address this Alaskan problem.
Higher Taxa
- Urtica [6601,genus]