Tofieldia pusilla (Michx.) Pers.
Liliaceae (Nartheciaceae), Tofieldia family.
Narthecium pusillum Michx.
Tofieldia palustris auct. non Huds.
Plants caespitose; with short, flat evergreen leaves; less than 15 cm high; 5–15(–20) cm high. Roots pallid-brown. Ground-level or under-ground stems horizontal, or not developed horizontally or vertically underground (rhizomes sometimes present, rarely collected: present on CAN 541779). Scales absent. Aerial stems erect; circular or oval in cross-section; glabrous. Leaves mostly basal; alternate; deciduous. Petioles absent. Ligules absent. Blades 10–50(–70) mm long; 1–3 mm wide; spreading from the vertical; straight; linear; without auricles; flat; with parallel veins; glabrous; adaxial surface glabrous. Blades abaxial surface glabrous. Leaf margins glabrous. Leaf apices acuminate, or acute.
Flowering stems conspicuously taller than the leaves; 5–15(–20) cm long; with leaves (reduced and inconspicuous), or without leaves; glabrous. Leaf or reduced bract closely associated with the base of the inflorescence absent. Inflorescences head-like (sometimes with whorls of flowers in a short cylinder); inflorescence dense; inflorescence oblong, or globose or subglobose; inflorescence 0.5–1.5 cm long; inflorescence 5–6 mm wide. Involucral bracts flowers on pedicels that have bracts leaves (short pedicels, tiny bracts less than 0.5 mm long). Flowers per inflorescence 4–12; small, less than 5 mm in diameter or length; sessile or subsessile (subtended by tiny bracts about 1 mm long, on short pedicels). Calyx sepals 3; free; 2–3 mm long; green, or yellow (pale); petaloid; glabrous. Petals 3; free; green, or white, or yellow (cream); obovate; unlobed; 2–3 mm long; same length as the calyx. Stamens 6. Anthers yellow; subglobose; 0.3–0.4 mm long. Carpels syncarpous; 3. Gynoecia superior. Ovaries glabrous. Styles absent (or very short with a stubby stigma). Stigmas per style 1. Ovules 15–30. Fruit with calyx persisting; a capsule; ovoid, or obovate; dehiscent; 1–2 mm long; 1–1.8 mm wide; dry; brown. Seeds 6–18 (rare); 0.5–0.6 mm long; brown; smooth.
Chromosome information. 2n = 30 (Uhrikova et al. 1986).
Distribution. Circumpolar. Low arctic. Range in the Canadian Arctic Archipelago moderate. Uncommon. Arctic Islands: Baffin, Victoria.
Ecology and habitat. Substrates, hummocks (in frost boil meadows), around the margins of ponds, river terraces; imperfectly drained moist areas; acidic (on granite), or calcareous; gravel, silt, till. Often reported with Dryas. Locally common in coastal lowlands, turfy areas in the tundra and by brooks growing in wet moss.
Illustrations. • Plant habitat. Plants growing in dry sedge meadow on hillside behind town, Nunavut, Baffin Island, Iqaluit. 23 Aug. 1997, S.G. Aiken 97–004, CAN. • Close-up of inflorescence. Plants growing on disturbed gravel. Nunavut, Baffin Island, Iqaluit, July 21, 1982. J.M. Gillett, 18981, CAN. • Plant habit. Plants growing in dry sedge meadow on hillside behind town, Nunavut, Baffin Island, Iqaluit. 23 Aug. 1997, S.G. Aiken 97–004. CAN. • Arctic Island Distribution.
Cite this publication as: ‘S.G. Aiken, M.J. Dallwitz, L.L.Consaul, R.L. Boles, R. Elven and M.E. LeBlanc. 2001 onwards. Flora of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago. Volume 1. Pteridophytes and Monocotyledons: Descriptions, Illustrations, Identification, and Information Retrieval. Version: 16th March 2001. http://www.mun.ca/biology/delta/arcticf/’. Dallwitz (1980), Dallwitz, Paine and Zurcher (1993, 1995, 2000), and Aiken, Dallwitz et al. (1999) should also be cited (see References).
