| Potentilla pulchella R. Br. | |
| Publ. & Syn. | Potentilla pulchella var. gracilicaulis A.E. Porsild, Sargentia 4: 48 (1943). Holotype (CAN): Canada: the Northwest Territories, Atkinson Pt., 01.-03. Aug. 1927, leg. A.E. Porsild and R.T. Porsild 3632. - Potentilla pulchella subsp. gracilicaulis (A.E. Porsild) Jurtz., Byull. Moskovsk. Obshch. Isp. Prir., Otd. Biol. 94, 3: 86 (1989). |
| Notes | Elven: The first publication of the name Potentilla pulchella R. Br., Voy. Explor. Baffin's Bay, App.: 193 (1819), was as a nomen nudum. The tetraploid P. pulchella is sexual. It is widespread in the Arctic except for northwestern Europe where it is restricted to Svalbard. It is assumed parental in several hybrid species. Yurtsev: Along with the circumpolar subsp. pulchella, subsp. gracilicaulis is met with in more southern parts from northern Siberia east to the Hudson Bay area. The populations of erect slender shortly pubescent plants evidently represent an ecological-geographic race, obviously ancestral for P. pulchella s. str. Where the races are sympatric, they are restricted to different site types. The typical race very often grows on dry gravelly ridges of sea coast. I realize some problem connected with separation of subsp. gracilicaulis (first, insufficient collections). Elven and Murray: Yurtsev (PAF draft) reported subsp. gracilicaulis from northern Siberia (Anabar-Olenyok, Kharaulakh), the Russian Far East (Wrangel Island), and North America (western and Alaska, the Yukon Territory, the Northwest Territories, and Nunavut). We have studied a relevant material (ALA, CAN, DAO, O), can see the variation described by Yurtsev, but have not been able to make a consistent division on two races. With further investigation, subsp. gracilicaulis might merit rank as a major race. There are, however, other and perhaps even more characteristic parts of P. pulchella, especially along the southern shores of Hudson Bay. What is ancestral to what within this species needs more study before any hypothesis find support, and the differentiation in this widespread species should be investigated at a circumpolar scale before any races are accepted. |
| Chromosomes | 28 (4x). - Europe (N), Far East (N), Alaska, Canada, Greenland. - Numerous reports. |
| Geography | Circumpolar: NOR RUS SIB RFE ALA CAN GRL. |
| Distribution | N = R A = S AN = s B = F AO = r C = F GW = s D = F E = S CC = f WI = f HL = f EP = f UN = s YK = r AW = r GE = s Kh = r SF = f Tm = r [ key ] |
| Parent taxon | Potentilla L. |
| PAF ID | 641002 |