| Potentilla protea Soják | |
| Publ. & Syn. | Soják, Preslia 57: 265 (1985). Holotype (BM): Greenland: eastern Jameson Land, N.N.W. of Dusén Bjerg, 1961, leg. Marris 1598. |
| Notes | Elven and Murray: Soják (1985a) reported Potentilla protea to be a hybrid species from crosses between P. crantzii and P. hyparctica and to be known from Novaya Zemlya, Svalbard, Jan Mayen, Greenland, and Canada (James Bay and British Columbia !). Yurtsev (PAF proposal) rather assumed it to have developed from hybrids between P. gelida subsp. boreo-asiatica and P. hyparctica. The entire range of P. protea, including the type locality, is outside the now accepted range of P. gelida, and only P. crantzii is available as a possible parent, as suggested by Soják. We (Elven) have inspected the relevant non-Russian material annotated as P. protea that we have come across. It is composed of misidentified P. crantzii (Jan Mayen), misidentified P. hyparctica (Svalbard), and probably primary hybrids (Svalbard?, Greenland, northeastern Canada). At present, P. protea does not have the consistency we demand of a species. However, we cannot exclude the possibility that the Novaya Zemlya and some Greenland plants may form populations and may represent a more or less stabilized offspring from hybrids. |
| Chromosomes | (1) 28 (4x). - Europe (C, S). - Several reports. (2) 35 (5x). - Europe (C, SW). - Druskovic and Lovka (1995); Delgado et al. (2000). (3) 41 42 (6x). - Europe (N, C), Russia (N, W), Greenland. - Numerous reports. (4) 42-49 (6-7x). - Europe (British Isles). - Smith (1971). (5) 48 49 (7x). - Europe (N, C). - Several reports. Not included: A report of 2n = 14 (2x, Guinochet 1968) probably belongs to another species. |
| Geography | Amphi-Atlantic: RUS GRL. |
| Distribution | B = R C = R GW = r D = R UN = r GE = r [ key ] |
| Parent taxon | Potentilla L. |
| PAF ID | 641053 |