| Potentilla nana Willd. ex Schltdl. | |
| Publ. & Syn. | Schltdl., Ges. Naturf. Freunde Berlin Mag. Neuesten Entdeck. Gesammten Naturk. 7: 296 (1815-1816). Described from "auf den Inseln zwischen Amerika und Asien so wie bei Sandwichsund" (the Aleutian Islands, Alaska). - Potentilla emarginata subsp. nana (Willd. ex Schltdl.) Hultén, Acta Univ. Lund., n. s., sect. 2, 42, 1: 1016 (1946). |
| Notes | Elven and Murray: Hultén (1946) assigned Potentilla nana as a subspecies to P. emarginata (= P. hyparctica). Soják (1996: 114) was of another opinion: "In my opinion, the plant belongs to P. fragiformis Willd. x P. hyparctica Malte". A comparatively large material (ALA) of this taxon is available from southwestern Alaska. It combines features from P. fragiformis and P. hyparctica. We support Soják's hypothesis of a hybrid species with the indicated parentage. The plant forms large populations, especially in the mountains of the Aleutian Islands, and also reaches the Arctic in mainland southwestern Alaska. It should be accepted as a species (not only a hybrid) both due to morphological consistency and because its range, geographically and ecologically, is mainly outside those of both its assumed parents, i.e., independent. Hultén (1946) reported P. emarginata subsp. nana to reach the Arctic in St. Matthew and St. Lawrence islands. We have seen no specimens of anything different from P. hyparctica from St. Matthew or St. Lawrence. |
| Chromosomes | (1) 42 (6x). - Far East (West Chukotka). - Zhukova and Petrovsky (1985b, two counts). (2) 49 (7x). - Far East (Wrangel Island). - Zhukova and Petrovsky (1985b). (3) 56 (8x). - Far East (South Chukotka). - Zhukova and Petrovsky (1985b). |
| Geography | Amphi-Beringian: ALA. |
| Distribution | N = S E = R AW = r [ key ] |
| Parent taxon | Potentilla L. |
| PAF ID | 641057 |