Koenigia islandica L.
Koenigia.
Polygonaceae, buckwheat family.
Mantissa 1: 35. 1767.
Koenigia hadacii Á.Löve & D.Löve, Bot. Not. 128:
506. 1976.
Koenigia islandica L. var. arctica Hada, Stud. Bot.
Cech. 5: 3. 1942
Type: Lectotype: (LINN-110.1), designated by Elkington, Regnum Veg. 127: 59. 1993.
Vegetative morphology. Plants dwarf shrubs; with erect or ascending, filiform branched or unbranched stems. Caudex absent. Aerial stems ascending, or prostrate; glabrous. Leaves distributed along the stems; alternate. Stipules present; scale-like; 0.5–2 mm long; 0.5–1.8 mm wide (often much wider at the top of the ocrea); sheathing; brown, or colorless. Stipules glabrous. Stipules apex truncate. Petioles 0.5–2(–3) mm long; glandular dots at the base of the leaf absent; glabrous. Sheaths persisting; not forming a conspicuous build up at the base of the plant; greyish brown, or brown; with the margins fused to the apex, or with the margins fused only in the lower part; glabrous. Leaf blade bases acute, or attenuate. Blades 1.2–5 mm long; 0.5–5 mm wide. Blades spreading, or divaricate; elliptic (occasionally), or ovate, or spatulate. Blades adaxial surface glabrous. Blades abaxial surface not glaucous; glabrous. Leaf apices rounded.
Reproductive morphology. Flowering stems absent (flowers may be in groups of 2 or 3). Flowering stems glabrous. Leaf or reduced bract closely associated with the base of the inflorescence absent (?). Flowers in inflorescences. Inflorescence cymose; dense; ellipsoid; 0.5–0.8 cm long; 0.5–1 mm wide; not elongating as the fruit matures; main axis glabrous. Pedicels bract leaves 0.3–1 mm long; 0.2–0.7 mm wide. Flowers per inflorescence 3–10; small, less than 5 mm in diameter or length. Calyx present (but is a single, petalloid perianth whorl of sepals that are often referred to as tepals). Calyx sepals 3; free; 1–2.3 mm long; 0.5–1 mm wide. Calyx green (near bottom of flower), or pink, or white or translucent; glabrous. Petals absent. Stamens present and probably functional. Stamens (1–)3(–5); filaments glabrous. Anthers axis straight. Gynoecia superior. Carpels syncarpous; 3. Styles 0.03–0.1 mm long. Stigmas per style 1. Placentation basal. Ovules 1. Fruit dry; an achene; ovoid, or obovate; not distinctly flattened; indehiscent. Fruit 1–1.5 mm long; 0.5–1 mm wide; black, or brown. Achenes ovoid.
Chromosome information. 2n = 28. 28 (4x). -
Hagerup (1926 Greenland); Edman (1929 northern Europe); Löve and Löve
(1948 northern Europe,1956b Iceland); Sørensen and Westergaard in
Löve and Löve (1948 Greenland); Holmen (1952 Greenland); Löve and
Sarkar (1957 Canada?); Jørgensen et al. (1958 Greenland); Menshikova
(1964); Zhukova (1965a eastern Chukotka, 1967, 1982 north eastern Asia); Knaben
and Engelskjøn (1967 northern Norway); Johnson and Packer (1968
northwestern Alaska ); Löve et al. (1971 western North America); Moore
(1981 South America); Dalgaard (1988 western Greenland); Hultgård (unpubl.
Svalbard, included by Jonsell 2000).
A diploid chromosome count (2n =
14) from Svalbard was reported by Löve and Löve (1975b) and recognized
as a separate species - K. hadacii.(Löve and Löve 1976) A
voucher for their diploid Svalbard count has not been found and the number has
not been confirmed by later counts (Hultgård pers. comm.). The entity is
therefore not recognized as it is reported to differ from K. islandica s.
str. in size only. However, the Svalbard plants become just as tall as others
when manured. A diploid central Asian count (Mesícek and Soják
1973) may belong to another species. (Elven). Ploidy levels recorded 4x.
Distribution. Northern hemisphere distribution: circumpolar; Greenland, Canada, United States, Eurasia. Alaska, Yukon, Nunavut Islands, Continental Nunavut, Northern Québec. Arctic Islands: Baffin (Southampton, Meighen). "From Himalaya and the high mountains in W. China the species extends to form a slightly discontinuous Arctic circumpolar distribution with outliers in Scotland, in the Rocky Mountains of north America, and in southern South America." (Hedberg 1997).
Ecology and habitat. Substrates: snow patches, around the margins of ponds, along streams, lake shores; imperfectly drained moist areas, or on seepage slopes; till, moss. Habitats: "On more or less permanently moist ground along small streams, ponds and lakes, especially in localities with long-lasting snow cover, occurring from sea-level in arctic (and antarctic) areas up to 3800 m in the Rocky Mountains, and at least 4800 m in Himalaya." (Hedberg 1997).
Notes. Koenigia islandica is one of the few annual species on
the Arctic Islands. Therefore it is confined to areas where it receives
protection in a pocket of still warm air on sunny days and also receives
protection from the wind. It matures at a height less than 5 cm so the growth
period is at a minimum and all tissues remain close to the warm soil (Savile
1972).
Sørensen (1941) found that all germinable seeds of Koenigia
islandica germinate promptly in their first spring, even though it would
seem advantageous for a dormancy delay of germination beyond the first year.
A centre of diversity of this circumpolar species in the mountains of SE
Asia is indicated by the taller and more profusely branched plants that have
less reduced 4- to 5-merous flowers found there. The other species in this genus
are also found in this area of SE Asia (Hedberg 1997).
Illustrations. • Habitat. Nunavut, Baffin Island. Lower Savage Islands, 1.5 km S of Savage Harbour, about 500 m from east coast. Elevation 100–150 metres. In acid gravel with tiny Saxifraga cernua, Eleocharis acicularis. 61°49'N, 65°43'W. 13 August 1999. L.L. Consaul 2351, L.J. Gillespie and R.J. Soreng. CAN. • Plant in habitat. Seen here as tiny red dots in acid gravel with tiny Saxifraga, Salix arctica. Nunavut, Baffin Island. Lower Savage Islands, 1.5 km S of Savage Harbour, about 500 m from east coast. Elevation 100–150 metres. 61°49'N, 65°43'W. 13 August 1999. L.L. Consaul 2351, L.J. Gillespie and R.J. Soreng. CAN. • Plants in habitat. Dense stand on river bar. Alaska: Alaska Range, McCallum Creek. Aug. 2000. Photo: H.Solstad. • Close-up of plant. Drawing by Mrs S. Bergh and Mrs L. Barstad based on a collection from Svalbard, Sørkapp Land, Bjørnbeinflyan. 29 Jul. 1920. J. Lid 181. O 201549. With permission of the Botanical Museum University of Oslo, Norway. • Close-up of plant. Plants 1–2 cm long. Nunavut, Baffin Island. Lower Savage Islands, 1.5 km S of Savage Harbour, about 500 m from east coast. Elevation 100–150 metres. In acid gravel with tiny Saxifraga cernua, Eleocharis acicularis. 61°49'N, 65°43'W. 13 August 1999. L.L. Consaul 2351, L.J. Gillespie and R.J. Soreng. CAN. • Close-up of plant. Tiny red plants of Koenigia, 2–3 cm long with leaves less than 5 mm long. Growing with diminutive yellowish green leaves of Saxifraga cernua. Nunavut, Baffin Island. Lower Savage Islands, 1.5 km S of Savage Harbour, about 500 m from east coast. Elevation 100–150 metres. In acid gravel with tiny Saxifraga cernua, Eleocharis acicularis. 61°49'N, 65°43'W. 13 August 1999. L.L. Consaul 2351, L.J. Gillespie and R.J. Soreng. 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).
