Parnassia palustris L.
Bog star.
Saxifragaceae, saxifrage family.
Rhodora 29: 311. 1937.
Type: Burser Herbarium XVII.91 (UPS) lectotype, selected by Hultgård, Symb. Bot. Upsal. 28, 1: 109–110. 1987
Parnasia palustris L. subsp. palustris
Parnasia
palustris L. subsp. obtusiflora (Rupr.) D.A.Webb, Feddes Repert. 64:
25. 1961.
Parnasi. obtusiflora Rupr. (1846), Fl. Samojed. Cisural.
23. 1846.
Parnasa. palustris L. var. neogaea Fernald (1937),
Rhodora 39: 311. 1937.
Parnasia palustris L. subsp. neogaea
(Fernald) Hultén, Lunds Univ. Åsskr., n. f., avd. 2, 41, 1: 956.
1945
Vegetative morphology. Plants perennial herbs; 10–20(–35) cm high; caespitose; cordate, leaves, white flowers with conspicuous viens and numerous staminoidea. Taproot absent. Caudex present (short and small). Ground-level or under-ground stems not developed horizontally or vertically (or slightly vertical, rarely collected). Aerial stems erect; glabrous. Leaves in a basal tuft; alternate; simple; existing for a single season or less. Petioles present (basal leaves), or absent (flowering stem leaves); 15–50(–100) mm long; glabrous. Leaf blade bases cordate, or rounded. Blades 4–25(–30) mm long; 8–20 mm wide. Blades ovate; flat; veins palmate. Blades adaxial surface glabrous. Blades abaxial surface glabrous. Conspicuous hydathodes absent (no small surface glands present). Leaf apices acute (flowering stem leaf), or obtuse.
Reproductive morphology. Flowering stems present. Flowering stems with leaves (usually a single sessil leaf attached in the lower half of the flowering stem); glabrous. Flowers solitary; large, more than 15 mm in diameter or length. Calyx sepals 5; free; 4–6 mm long; 2–2.5(–3) mm wide. Calyx green; herbaceous; glabrous. Petals free; longer than the calyx; 5; white (with conspicuous viens); obovate; unlobed; (8–)9–11(–12) mm long. Stamens present and probably functional, or absent, or not functional (staminoidea numerous and prominent). Stamens 5 (ripening in sequence see image library and with conspiicuous staminoidea). Nectaries present. Gynoecia superior. Carpels syncarpous; 4. Ovaries glabrous. Styles absent. Ovules 150–300. Fruit with calyx persisting; dry; a capsule; ovoid; dehiscent; splitting to the base into separate segments. Fruit (6–)8–10 mm long; (4–)6–8 mm wide; yellowish, or green at maturity. Seeds 150–300; 0.7–0.8 mm long; brown, or yellowish; with surfaces smooth (with fine reticulate veins).
Chromosome information. 2n = 18, 27, 36, and 54. 18
(2x). - e.g., Sokolovskaya and Strelkova (1940 northern Russia, 1960); Löve
and Löve (1951 northern Europe); Löve (1954b); Sokolovskaya (1958,
1962b, 1963, 1965); Sorsa (1963b Finland); Hedberg and Hedberg (1964 Sweden);
Löve and Ritchie (1966 central Canada, 'neogaea'), Zhukova (1966,
1969 north eastern Asia), Hedberg (1967 northern Canada, 'neogaea'),
Knaben and Engelskjøn (1967 Norway), Johnson and Packer (1968
northwestern Alaska ), Mulligan (1969 northern Alaska), Packer and McPherson
(1974 northern Alaska); Zhukova et al. (1977a north eastern Asia);
Engelskjøn (1979 Norway); Löve and Löve (1982 central Canada,
'neogaea'); Yurtsev and Zhukova (1982 northern Siberia Sib); Zhukova
(1982 north eastern Asia); Gornal (1985 NW Eur); Funamoto (1986a Japan,
'palustris' and 'tenuis'); Hultgård (1987 Scandinavia);
Jalas and Suominen (1999) listed many additional recent counts; Lövkvist
and Hultgård (1999 Sweden, six counts).
27 (3x). -
Erlandsson (1942 Sweden); Gadella and Kliphuis (1968 western Europe);
Lövkvist and Hultgård (1999 Sweden, one count in an otherwise
2n = 18 population).
36 (4x). - e.g., Sokolovskaya and
Strelkova (1940, 1941 northern Russia Kolguev, 1960, 'obtusiflora');
Löve and Löve (1951, 1956b Iceland, 1982a arctic Canada,
'obtusiflora'); Löve (1954b northern Europe,'obtusiflora');
Sokolovskaya (1958, 1962b northern Russia, 'obtusiflora'); Knaben and
Engelskjøn (1967 Norway); Laane (1967 Norway); Krogulevich (1976 northern
Siberia); Engelskjøn (1979 Norway); Gornal (1985 northwestern Europe);
Hultgård (1987 Scand). Jalas and Suominen (1999) listed some additional
recent counts.
54 (6x). - Erlandsson (1942 Sweden); Gornall
and Wentworth (1993 western Europe). Ploidy levels recorded
2x&3x&4x&6x.
Distribution. Northern hemisphere distribution: circumpolar; Canada, United States, Eurasia, Siberia (Iceland). Low arctic. Range in the Canadian Arctic Archipelago not yet recorded.
Ecology and habitat. Substrates: imperfectly drained moist areas, or dry, or moderately well drained areas; calcareous; gravel, sand; with low organic content. Habitats: Similar to Parnassia kotzebuei but the flowers are much larger, with broader and longer petals and the cauline leaf inserted near the middle of the stem.
Taxon as an environmental indicator. Discovery of this species in the Arctic Archipelago could indicate climatic warming, as it occurs near Banks Island in the Anderson River delta, but has not yet been recorded in the archipelago. The northernmost record is N.W.T., Anderson River Delta, 69°42'N (Canada).
Notes. Polunin (1940), Porsild (1957, 1964) and Porsild and Cody
(1980) considered this a low arctic species which occurs abundantly near the
Arctic Archipelago. It should be looked for in the archipelago.
Elven et al.
(2003) debated whether to split or to lump in this taxon, noting that Löve
Löve (1975) split P. palustris s. l. on two species, the diploid
P. palustris s. str. and the tetraploid P. obtusiflora. The
diploid was further split into a subsp. palustris from Europe and Siberia
to Alaska and a subsp. neogaea in Alaska and Canada. Subspecies
obtusiflora was considered an 'Old World' species from northwestern
Europe to Russian Far East. This treatment does not align very well with
morphological differences. In northern Europe, the diploids (P. palustris
subsp. palustris sensu Löve and type) are southern lowland plants
that probably don't reach the Arctic here; the tetraploids (P.
obtusiflora sensu Löve) occur both in the lowlands, mountains and to
the north. The small-grown plants with an 'obtusiflora' morphology here
are tetraploid but so are also a lot of the large-grown and large-flowered
plants with a 'palustris' morphology. The North American 'neogaea'
plants are diploid, according to Löve and Löve (1975). A similar
morphological variation is found in Alaskan plants as in northern European ones
but diploid numbers are counted both in small-grown and small-flowered
arctic-alpine and large-flowered boreal plants.
Taraskina in Yurtsev (1984)
related the 'obtusiflora' name to subsp. palustris whereas a
northern Fennoscandian var. tenuis Wahlenb. (1912), Fl. Lapp. 74, was
included in subsp. neogaea. This is also difficult to reconcile with
morphological and cytological data.
Hultén and Fries (1986)
recognised two subspecies of P. palustris, a mainly Eurasian subsp.
palustris that reached westernmost Alaska and a nearly circumpolar subsp.
neogaea from Iceland throughout Eurasia and N America to Labrador. They
included the 'obtusiflora' entity in their subsp. neogaea.
These three treatments are incompatible. In view of the problems, the
species is here retained in a collective sense. That is also the view of
Hultgård (1987), Symb. Bot. Upsal. 28, 1: 1–128, who has studied the
complex extensively. It is also supported by other biosystematic studies from
Erlandsson (1942) to Gornall and Wentworth (1993). (Elven)
large-flowered
boreal plants.
Illustrations. • Plant habitat: Churchill.. Plants growing between the markers in dry gravel. Manitoba, Churchill, Beech Cove. Aiken and Brysting 01–033. CAN. • Close-up of plants. Manitoba, Churchill, Beech Cove. Aiken and Brysting 01–033. CAN. • Close-up of flower: anthers lying close to stigma. • Close-up of flower - 2 anthers expanded. • Close-up of flower: ripening stigma. • Close-up of flower: stigam with 4 lobes.. • Close-up of post anthesis flower.. • Close-up of flower with ripening stigmas.
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).
