| Cerastium fontanum Baumg. | |
| Publ. & Syn. | Baumg., Enum. Stirp. Transsilv. 1: 425 (1816). Neotype (E): Romania: Transsylvania, "Fogarasser Alpen, am Zirnaflusse", July 1851, leg. P.J.F. Schur (Wyse Jackson 2000: 531). |
| Notes | Several names have been in use for this species. The name Cerastium caespitosum Gilib., Fl. Lit. Inch. 2: 159 (1782) must be rejected because Gilibert (1782) did not consistently apply binary nomenclature (see McNeill et al. 2006: 482, "Opera utique oppressa"). When also the Linnaean C. vulgatum (illegitimate) is rejected, the first valid name for the collective species seems to be C. fontanum. See Wyse Jackson (1992, 1995). Cerastium fontanum is polymorphic. Two morphologically rather different races reach the Arctic in the North Atlantic regions (e.g., Hämet-Ahti et al. 1998; Jonsell et al. 2001; Mossberg and Stenberg 2003; Elven et al. 2005): subsp. fontanum is native in arctic Europe and Greenland and subsp. vulgare is adventive in the Arctic. |
| Chromosomes | 72 (4x). - Europe (N), Canada, Greenland. - At least five reports. Not included: A report of 2n = 82-86 (Böcher 1977) may belong to the common hybrid C. arcticum x regelii (subsp. caespitosum). |
| Geography | Amphi-Atlantic (E) - European - Asian (W). |
| Parent taxon | Cerastium L. |
| Child taxa |
Cerastium fontanum subsp. fontanum Cerastium fontanum subsp. vulgare (Hartm.) Greuter & Burdet |
| PAF ID | 420212 |