830403 Mertensia paniculata var. paniculata] (Aiton) G. Don
Distribution
Western Alaska: Frequent
Northern Alaska - Yukon: Rare
Hudson Bay - Labrador: Rare
Southern Arcti Tundra: Rare
Shrub Tundra: Scattered
Bordering boreal or alpine areas: Frequent
- G. Don, Gen. Hist. 4: 318 (1837-1838). - Pulmonaria paniculata Aiton, Hort. Kew. 1: 181 (1789). Described from the Hudson Bay area (Canada).
2n=
(1) 24 (4x). - Canada, U.S.A. (W). - At least three reports.
(2) 48 (8x). - North America (W). - Chinnappa and Chmielewski (1987).
(3) 72 (12x). - Alaska. - Dawe and Murray (1981c, two counts).
Geography: North American (N) - Cordilleran: ALA CAN.
Notes: Elven and Murray: Three northwestern varieties have frequently been accepted in the widespread North American species Mertensia paniculata (e.g., Hultén 1968a; Porsild and Cody 1980; Cody 1996). Variety paniculata is reported to be the widespread race and the main arctic one. Variety alaskana (Britton) L.O. Williams, Ann. Missouri Bot. Gard. 24: 48 (1937) [Mertensia alaskana Britton, Bull. New York Bot. Gard. 2: 181 (1901); type: Alaska: Fort Yukon, 1865, leg. A. Houle] occurs entirely within the range of var. paniculata in eastern Alaska and the Yukon Territory. This occurrence of another race totally within the range of the ubiquitous var. paniculata, without any indication of ecological separation, is strange. It needs critical study but is not - as far as we know - an arctic problem. The third entity, treated by Hultén (1968a) as var. eastwoodae, is entirely or predominantly arctic, and we accept it as species.
The difference in chromosome numbers reported for eastern and southwestern plants (4x, 8x) compared with northwestern plants (12x) should give some matter for thought, together with the strange appearance of var. alaskana. The popular Alaskan 'Bluebells' need an experimental investigation.
Higher Taxa
- Mertensia [8304,genus]