Eriophorum vaginatum L. s.l.
Cyperaceae, sedge family.
Sp. Pl. 1: 52. 1753
Vegetative morphology. Plants perennial herbs; (10–)15–40(–60) cm high; caespitose; forming large compact tussocks that sometimes die off towards the centre; not vegetatively proliferating by bulbils or fragmentation. Roots pallid-brown. Ground-level or under-ground stems not developed horizontally or vertically. Scales absent. Aerial stems erect; not filiform; triangular in cross-section, or circular or oval in cross-section; glabrous. Branches not glaucous. Leaves distributed along the stems; alternate. Petioles absent. Sheaths persisting; forming a conspicuous build up at the base of the plant; greyish brown, or reddish (or pale orange brown); with the margins fused to the apex; glabrous; collars absent. Ligules present; 0.3–1 mm long; membranous (often turning pale brown); glabrous; ovate-oblong, or transversely oblong; apices acute, or obtuse; entire. Blades 50–150 mm long; 0.6–1(–1.2) mm wide. Blades appressed to the stem, or spreading; straight; linear (filiform); triangular in cross section; veins parallel; midvein similar in size to other veins in the leaf. Blades adaxial surface glabrous. Blades abaxial surface glabrous. Blade margins glabrous (usually, sometimes scaberulous towards the tip). Leaf apices acuminate.
Reproductive morphology. Flowering stems present. Flowering stems conspicuously taller than the leaves; with leaves (not closely associated with the apex); uppermost leaf arising below the middle of the stem, or arising above the middle of the stem (bladelss sheaths 1–3 per culm expanding distally to 1 mm wide); glabrous. Flowering culm nodes not exposed. Leaf or reduced bract closely associated with the base of the inflorescence absent. Inflorescence spicate; dense; oblong, or ovate, or globose or subglobose; 1.5–2 cm long (in flower 2.0–5.5 cm in fruit); 10–35 mm wide. Pedicels absent. Inflorescence a single spike. Individual spike(s) erect. Bisexual spike(s) with empty bracts at the base (true involucral bracts absent). Terminal spike with both sexes in each floret. Floral scales pale grey (to greenish-gray with white hyaline margins to 1 mm wide; empty scales more than 10, ovate-lanceolate, proximal scales reflexed or spreading at maturity, 5–10 mm long); with margins paler than body of scale (spreading at maturity); reflexed (at maturity); acute; ovate, or lanceolate; (5–)7–10(–14) mm long; 2–4 mm wide; glabrous. Perianth represented by bristles (10 or more); bristles silky white, or translucent (rarely reddish to brown , 10–18 mm long). Stamens 3. Anthers (1–)1.6–3 mm long. Carpels syncarpous. Stipes 3 mm long. Styles 3. Placentation basal. Fruit surrounded by a perianth persisting as bristles; an achene; ovoid, or obovate. Fruit (1.1–)1.9–3.5 mm long; black, or brown (grey). Achenes trigonous (apex minutely apiculate).
Chromosome information. 2n = 58. Eriophorum vaginatum L.
subsp. vaginatum
2n = 57-58-60. - Håkansson (1928
northernorthern Europe); Löve (1954b); Sorsa (1963c Finland); Zhukova (1968
north eastern Asia, 2n = 60); Johnson and Packer (1968 northwestern
Alaska, 2n = 57); Zhukova and Tikhonova (1973 Chuk); Packer and McPherson
(1974 northern Alaska); Krogulevich (1976 northern Siberia); Zhukova et al.
(1977a north eastern Asia);
Eriophorum vaginatum subsp. spissum
(Fernald) Hultén
Yurtsev and Zhukova (1978 E Chuk); Löve and
Löve (1981c central Canada); Kozhevnikov et al. (1986 north eastern Asia).
Some more southern counts.
58. - Löve (1954b); Löve and Löve
(1965a, 1966b north eastern USA, 1981c central Canada); Hedberg (1967 northern
Canada, 2n = c.60.
61. - Gervais et al. (1999 eastern Canada).
The chromosome list of Löve and Löve (1975) applied the
Hultén concept of this subspecies, which means that at least four of the
seven counts they listed for subsp. spissum refer to subsp.
vaginatum (Johnson and Packer 1968 Ala, Zhukova 1968 northeastern Asia,
Zhukova and Tikhonova 1973 northeastern Asia, and Packer and McPherson 1974
Alaska). The count of Hedberg (1967) may also belong to subsp. vaginatum.
(Elven).
Distribution. Yukon, Northwest Territories Islands, Continental Northwest Territories, Nunavut Islands, Continental Nunavut, Northern Québec. Arctic. Range in the Canadian Arctic Archipelago widespread. Common. Arctic Islands: Baffin and Parry Islands (Melville), Banks, Victoria, and Southampton.
Ecology and habitat. Substrates: hummocks (with heath), around the margins of ponds, marshes (along the edges), tundra (swales, peaty soils); aquatic, or imperfectly drained moist areas; calcareous; with high organic content. Habitats: Found in wet meadows with Carex and Eriophorum. In shallow water at the edge of pools, it can be found with Hippurus vulgaris and Ranunculus pallasii. On drier tundra, it is associated with mosses, heath, and lichens.
Notes. The role of E. vaginatum in methane flux from boreal
peatlands was studied by Pullman et al. (1995).
A study of the effects of
variable soil oxygen and nutrient availability of E. angustifolium and
E. vaginatum was done by Gebauer et al. (1995) near Toolik Lake, Alaska.
It was shown that whole-plant growth in E. vaginatum improved in flooded
soils, but only when nitrogen availability was high. In areas of low nitrogen
availability, growth was reduced by 20% compared to growth in drier more aerobic
soil.
The roots of E. vaginatum have been shown to have the ability
to absorb free amino acids as well as inorganic nitrogen (Chapin III et al.,
1993). This is the first documented example of a non-mycorrhizal plant with this
capability. Such an adaptation is highly advantageous in the Arctic where
inorganic nitrogen is often limiting. Factors regulating the uptake of ammonium
and glycine in the field were investigated by Leadley et al. (1997). Nitrogen
supply rate was found to be more important than soil factors (buffer capacity
and diffusion coefficient), root density, or root uptake kinetics.
Moorhead
et al. (1993) modeled the relative contributions of phosphatases associated with
the living roots of E. vaginatum and phosphatases associated with soil
microbes to the phosphorus released from the substrate within the tussocks of
the plant. They found that the former contributed 4% of the total phosporus
released, but that this amount was almost twice the annual demand for the plant.
Thus, E. vaginaturm may obtain a significant amount of phosphorus from
the activity of root surface phosphatase. They also found that 28% of the
phosphatase activity occurred during a brief period of time in autumn when
substrate availability was high. Since maximum growth occurs early in the year,
E. vaginatum must draw on reserves from the previous year to sustain
growth.
Porsild (1957) considered Eriophorum vaginatum subsp.
vaginatum a western species; east of the 100th meridian it gradually
passes into subsp. spissum. Only one taxon is recognized in FNA (2003).
A narrow concept of subsp. spissum is applied by Novoselova,
restricting it to plants of northeastern North America and western Greenland.
This is a much narrower concept than applied by, e.g., Hultén (1968). The
Alaskan plants treated by Hultén as subsp. spissum are
indistinguishable from European (and Linnaean) E. vaginatum s. str.
(Elven).
Illustrations. • Plant in habitat. Two tussocks of previous seasons leaves. This season's inflorescences are developing. N.W.T., Banks Island in Aulavik National Park, near green cabin, June 29, 1999. Aiken 99–009, CAN. • Close-up of plant. Close-up of the plant with an accumulation of sheaths at the base and a pre-anthesis inflorescence. Collected Nunavut, Baffin Island, Koukdjuak River, 5 miles north of Kimmirut, J.D. Soper, 125749, 25 June, 1931, CAN 28392. • Close-up of plant. Close-up of the plant with an accumulation of sheaths at the base and a post-anthesis inflorescences with lead gray scales. Collected Nunavut, Southampton Island, vicinity of Salmon Pond, 64 12 N, 85 W. G.R. Parker, SP-70–158, 1970. CAN 368132. • Inflorescences. Single head inflorescence covered with spent anthers. N.W.T., Banks Island in Aulavik National Park, near green cabin, June 29, 1999. Susan Aiken.99–009, CAN. • Arctic Island distribution.
Cite this publication as: ‘S.G. Aiken, M.J. Dallwitz, L.L. Consaul, C.L. McJannet, L.J. Gillespie, R.L. Boles, G.W. Argus, J.M. Gillett, P.J. Scott, R. Elven, M.C. LeBlanc, A.K. Brysting and H. Solstad. 1999 onwards. Flora of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago: Descriptions, Illustrations, Identification, and Information Retrieval. Version: 29th April 2003. http://www.mun.ca/biology/delta/arcticf/’. Dallwitz (1980) and Dallwitz, Paine and Zurcher (1993, 1995, 2000) should also be cited (see References).
