| Micranthes foliolosa (R. Br.) Gornall | |
| Publ. & Syn. | ?Saxifraga stellaris var. multiflora Hultén, Ark. Bot., n. s., 7, 1: 68 (1968). Holotype (S!): Alaska: the Seward Peninsula, "Bering Strait, Wales", 23. Aug. 1964, leg. E. Hultén. |
| Notes | Micranthes foliolosa approaches the Arctic in Iceland but probably not close enough to be a borderline case (Kristinsson 2008). Zhmylev: This species is probably a complex of 2-3 entities formed as a result of polyploidy of pseudoviviparous races of Micranthes stellaris, M. redofskyi, and M. ferruginea. Elven: The realisation of pseudovivipary (bulbils) may be posterior to the polyploidization, not a feature expressed in the parental plants. Arctic plants of M. foliolosa do not vary much. All are morphologically much more similar to M. redofskyi than to M. stellaris (or M. ferruginea). A molecular investigation (AFLP, A. Tribsch unpubl.) connects M. foliolosa sampled throughout the Arctic closely to Siberian M. redofskyi. Participation of M. stellaris in an allopolyploid origin is not supported. Participation of M. ferruginea cannot be excluded. Most populations consist of plants with bulbils only or with a single, often small or deformed apical flower. However, populations of large plants with branched scapes and multiple, well-formed flowers are frequent along the Bering Strait in both western Alaska and East Chukotka. Hultén (1968a and later) named these plants Saxifraga foliolosa var. multiflora and synonymized them with Saxifraga [Micranthes redofskyi]. Zhmylev (PAF proposal) synonymized var. multiflora with M. foliolosa. We have inspected the type and the other Hultén material (S) of var. multiflora, and also Chukotkan material, and agree with Zhmylev that this variety is not the same as M. redofskyi. Note that the lowest chromosome numbers for M. foliolosa (2n = 40, 48) are recorded in the regions where this species is most floriferous and where its range overlaps with that of M. redofskyi. Variety multiflora may be a "step" in a hybrid series between M. redofskyi and perhaps M. ferruginea on one side and M. foliolosa s. str. on the other. |
| Chromosomes | (1) 40 (4x, x = 10, or 5x, x = 8). - Far East (East Chukotka). - Zhukova et al. (1973); Zhukova and Petrovsky (1987a); Devyatov et al. (1997). All three reports possibly based on the same count(s). (2) 48 (6x, x = 8). - Far East (East Chukotka). - Zhukova and Petrovsky (1987a). (3) 56 (7x, x = 8). - Europe (N), Russia (N), Siberia (N), Far East (N), Alaska, Canada, Greenland. - Numerous reports. (4) 64 (8x, x = 8). - Greenland. - Harmsen (1939, embryo 2n = 64, endosperm 3n = 96). Löve and Löve (1975a) considered this species to have a uniform chromosome number of 2n = 56 and omitted the reports of other numbers. |
| Geography | Circumpolar: NOR RUS SIB RFE ALA CAN GRL. |
| Distribution | N = S A = S AN = f B = F AO = f C = F GW = f D = F E = F CC = f WI = s YG = f HL = f FN = s EP = f CE = f CS = f UN = f YK = f AW = f GE = f Kh = f SF = f CW = f Tm = f KP = s [ key ] |
| Parent taxon | Micranthes Haw. |
| PAF ID | 500105 |