Panarctic Flora

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750106 Galium trifidum L.

Geography: Circumboreal.

Notes: Hultén (1971a) and Puff (1976) discussed the abundant confusion in this species where three species names are in frequent use: Galium trifidum, G. ruprechtii, and G. brandegei. Hultén (1971a: 94) argued that Pobedimova's (1958) publication of an European G. ruprechtii apart from Linnaeus' G. trifidum (based on Canadian material) was due to an erroneous concept of G. trifidum, and that the two names are synonyms. Ehrendorfer (1976) and Puff (1976) followed this view. Puff (1976) argued that also Asa Gray's G. brandegei just is a depauperate and slightly less scabrous plant of G. trifidum. We share these opinions and only accept one species - G. trifidum - with two races that reach the Arctic: subsp. trifidum (incl. G. ruprechtii and G. brandegei) and subsp. columbianum. The other races (Puff 1976) are non-arctic.

There are different opinions, see Hultén (1968a), Porsild and Cody (1980), Hultén and Fries (1986), and Cody (1996) concerning G. brandegei; Tzvelev (1987d, 2000a) and Sekretareva (1999) concerning the Eurasian variation.

Higher Taxa