| Viscaria alpina (L.) G. Don | |
| Publ. & Syn. | Viscaria alpina var. americana Fernald, Rhodora 42: 259 (1940). Holotype (GH): Canada: Newfoundland, Bay of Islands, Blomidon ("Blow-me-down") Mountains, 24. July 1910, leg. Fernald and Wiegand 3395. - Viscaria alpina subsp. americana (Fernald) Böcher, Biol. Skr. 11, 6: 27 (1963). - Lychnis alpina subsp. americana (Fernald) Feilberg, Meddel. Grønland, Biosci. 15: 12 (1984). |
| Notes | Elven and Aiken: The plants in Greenland and northeastern North America have been proposed as var./subsp. americana (Fernald 1940; Böcher 1963; Feilberg 1984a), different from the northern and central European var./subsp. alpina. Aiken was not able to distinguish morphologically a subsp. americana in northeastern Canada. Morton (2005c) did not accept subsp. americana. The following statement by Böcher et al. (1978) throws doubts on a clear geographical separation: "The majority of the Greenland material belongs to the coarser and more broad-leaved subsp. americana (Fern.) Böch." translated here. This implies that there also is a minority (subsp. alpina) in Greenland. In an early molecular study, Haraldsen and Wesenberg (1993) compared allozyme pattern in Viscaria alpina from central and northern Europe, Greenland, and northeastern North America. They found the plants in the Scandinavian mountains to connect closely to those in Greenland and North America, whereas the plants in the southern Scandinavian lowlands (where small, isolated populations occur) rather connected to the central European ones. This suggests that the Scandinavian lowland plants have migrated northwards from central Europe after the last glaciation but not reached the mountains, whereas the Scandinavian mountain plants may have been recruited from west of the Atlantic (or vice versa) and not necessarily in postglacial times. The "americana" race has been described because of its assumed differences from the Scandinavian mountain plant. This difference is then not supported by the allozymes. We do not accept subspecies. |
| Chromosomes | 24 (2x). - Europe, Canada (E), Greenland. - Numerous reports. |
| Geography | Amphi-Atlantic - European (N/C): ICE NOR RUS CAN GRL. |
| Distribution | N = F C = S GW = f D = F Ic = f E = F HL = r FN = s UN = r GE = f KP = r [ key ] |
| Parent taxon | Viscaria Bernh. |
| PAF ID | 421301 |