Panarctic Flora

861404 Achillea alpina L.

• L., Sp. Pl.: 899 (1753). Lectotype (LINN): Siberia. Herb. Linn. 1017.13 (Botschantzev 1961: 120). - Ptarmica alpina (L.) DC., Prodr. 6: 22 (1838).

2n= 36 (4x). - Siberia. - At least three reports.
Not included: Some reports of diploid numbers from India.

Geography: Asian (E) - amphi-Beringian - North American (N).

Notes: Elven and Murray: Guo et al. (2006) analysed Asian Achillea alpina by molecular markers and suggested it to be an allotetraploid from the diploids A. acuminata (Ledeb.) Sch.Bip. (the Ptarmica group) and A. asiatica Serg. (the Achillea s. str. group).

Four names are relevant in this group: A. alpina L. 1753, A. multiflora Hook. 1833, A. sibirica Ledeb. 1845 (Ledebour's earlier publication of the epithet in 1811 was as a synonym), and subsp. camtschatica Heimerl 1884 (by Komarov 1930 as species). Botschantzev (1961) treated the Russian representatives as six species and the name A. sibirica as a later synonym for A. alpina s. str. The name A. sibirica has been widely applied in North America (e.g., Hultén (1968a), whereas several names have been applied in Russian literature. If the plants are considered races of one wide species, A. alpina is the priority name of that species, the names "camtschatica" and "multiflora" are relevant for the arctic representatives in, respectivelly, northeastern Asia and North America, whereas the names "alpina" s. str., "sibirica", and also "japonica" Heimerl 1884 relate to more southern Asian representatives.

The northwestern North American plant is visibly different from the northern and northeastern Asian ones but mainly in quantitative features: capitulae more numerous, ligules smaller, and leaves slightly more dissected. We include the Alaskan and Yukon Territory plants named A. sibirica by Hultén and others in A. multiflora but consider this North American plant a subspecies. The northeastern Asian plant becomes another subspecies (proposed as species, Ptarmica camtschatica, by Tzvelev 1987e and by Korobkov in PAF proposal). The treatment of Trock (2006a) did not elucidate the matter further. He applied the name A. alpina collectively without discussion.