| Elymus alaskanus subsp. borealis (Turcz.) Á. Löve & D. Löve | |
| Publ. & Syn. | Triticum violaceum f. subalpinum Neuman, Sver. Fl.: 726 (1901). Described from Scandinavia. - Elymus kronokensis subsp. subalpinus (Neum.) Tzvelev, Novosti Sist. Vyssh. Rast. 10: 24 (1973). - Elymus alaskanus subsp. subalpinus (Neum.) Á. Löve & D. Löve, Bot. Not. 128: 502 (1976). |
| Notes | Elven and Murray: Four taxa have been proposed - "borealis", "kronokensis", "scandicus", and "subalpinus" - by Tzvelev (1964e) as species of Roegneria, by Melderis in Hultén (1968b) partly as subspecies of Agropyron boreale together with "alaskanum" and "hyperarcticum", by Melderis (1980) as subspecies of Elymus alaskanus, and by Tzvelev (PAF proposal) as subspecies of E. kronokensis. Tzvelev (1964e) distinguished the three taxa he then recognized - as Roegneria borealis, R. kronokensis, and R. scandicus - on hairs on leaf surface only. There may be a taxonomically significant variation but this is not fully documented in Tzvelev's treatment, and he reported the taxa (in PAF proposal) as largely sympatric: "borealis" from Iceland through northern Europe, Siberia, and Alaska to Canada; "scandicus" from Iceland through northern Europe and Siberia to Alaska; and "kronokensis" as geographically more restricted within this range. This sympatry does not inspire confidence and may be due to the technicality of the characters applied for separation. Campbell and Soreng in Soreng et al. (2003) merged them all within E. alaskanus subsp. borealis and included in this subspecies also the Asian E. sajanensis (see below under subsp. hyperarcticus). Barkworth et al. (2007) synonymized some of the names with E. alaskanus subsp. alaskanus. Elymus kronokensis s. str. (Tzvelev's subsp. kronokensis) is reported from the Russian Far East. The "scandicus" taxon has been considered by Nordic authors and by Melderis to be restricted to northern Europe, whereas Tzvelev considered it to be much more widespread (see above). |
| Chromosomes | 28 (4x). - Europe (N), Siberia, Far East (N), Alaska, U.S.A. - Numerous reports under a plethora of names. The reports listed by Löve and Löve (1975a) under E. trachycaulus subsp. borealis probably all stem from E. alaskanus in our concept but perhaps from several subspecies. |
| Geography | Circumpolar-alpine: (ICE) NOR? RUS SIB RFE ALA CAN. |
| Distribution | N = F AN = r AO = f D = R Ic = b E = F CC = r WI = f YG = r FN = ? CE = f CS = s UN = s YK = ? AW = f Kh = f CW = f Tm = s KP = r [ key ] |
| Parent taxon | Elymus alaskanus (Scribn. & Merr.) Á. Löve |
| PAF ID | 340104b |