| Deschampsia sukatschewii subsp. borealis (Trautv.) Tzvelev | |
| Publ. & Syn. | Deschampsia brevifolia auct. spitsb., non R. Br. (1824). |
| Notes | Aiken: This taxon has been recognized in Canada recently as Deschampsia paramushirensis Honda. Previously it has generally been known in Canada as D. pumila (Porsild 1957; Bowden 1960b; Hultén 1968a, 1968b). Tzvelev (1976) recognized that D. pumila (Griseb.) Ostenf. is a later homonym of D. pumila (Steven ex Westb.) Fomin & Woronow, referable to a species of Catabrosa. He recognized the taxon at the subspecific level as D. cespitosa subsp. paramushirensis and distinguished it from D. cespitosa subsp. borealis. Hultén (1968b) placed the name D. borealis (Trautv.) Roshev. into synonymy under D. pumila. Tzvelev (PAF proposal) synonymized "paramushirensis" and "borealis". McLachlan et al. (1989: Table 2) compared characters from Canadian and Eurasian specimens in the genus Deschampsia. Elven: Circumscribed as above, this subspecies is a high-arctic and nearly circumpolar plant of tundra fens and wet gravel flats, mostly on basic substrates, with leaves narrow to nearly filiform, panicle open and pale, spikelets small, and awn distinctly exserted. It has variously been named in Greenland and North America as D. pumila or D. paramushirensis, in Svalbard by, e.g., Rønning (1964, 1979) erroneously as D. brevifolia, and in Russia as D. borealis. One problem is whether the Japanese ("paramushirensis") and the Kamtchatkan plants ("pumila", "minor") belong to the same taxon as the ones of the High Arctic. I suspect not. Another problem on the North American side is whether this also is the coastal plant in the southern arctic parts, or if subsp. orientalis extends eastwards as suggested by Hultén (1968a) and Tzvelev (PAF proposal). My not very well founded opinion is that this coastal plant, and also a plant in mainland mountains, might correspond to "paramushirensis" (and "orientalis") and might differ enough from the 'moss cushion' plant in the High Arctic, here named as "borealis", so as to merit racial recognition. Jørgensen et al. (1958) concluded that eastern Greenland plants with 2n = ca. 26 and western Greenland ones with 2n = ca. 39 were morphologically similar. All have mostly aborted pollen. Agamospermy has not been much discussed in connection with Deschampsia. It should be noted that species of Deschampsia have no means of long-range vegetative growth. Where they form extensive populations, as these arctic Deschampsias mostly do, some means of seed (or bulbil) propagation must be assumed. |
| Chromosomes | (1) 24-26 26 (2x). - Europe (N), Far East (N), Greenland. - Numerous reports. (2) 39 36-42 (3x). - Far East (N), Greenland. - At least five reports, two from Chukotka and three from Greenland. (3) 52 (4x). - Far East (N). - At least three reports. |
| Geography | Circumpolar: NOR RUS SIB RFE ALA CAN GRL. |
| Distribution | N = F AN = r B = ? AO = s C = S GW = s D = F E = F CC = r WI = f YG = s HL = r EP = r CE = r CS = s UN = s YK = s AW = r GE = s Kh = s SF = s CW = f Tm = f KP = r [ key ] |
| Parent taxon | Deschampsia sukatschewii (Popl.) Roshev. |
| PAF ID | 341606c |