×Pucciphippsia vacillans (Th. Fr.) Tzvelev
Poaceae, grass family.
Nov. Syst. Pl. Vasc. (Leningrad) 8: 76. 1971. Probably a hybrid Phippsia algida × Puccinellia vahliana (Hedberg 1962)
Catabrosa concinna Th. Fr. subsp. vacillans Th. Fr., in Ofvers. Förh. Kongl. Vetensk. Akad. Stockh. 26: 142. 1869. Colpodium vacillans (Th. Fr.) Polunin, Circumpolar Arct. Fl. 46. 1959.
Type: Described from Spitzbergen, Belsound, at foot of the hills, a J. Vahl collection became Th. Fries 1869.
Plants caespitose; less than 15 cm high, or more than 15 cm high; 15–23 cm high. Ground-level or under-ground stems not developed horizontally or vertically underground. Aerial stems erect; circular or oval in cross-section; glabrous. Leaves distributed along the stems; alternate; marcescent. Petioles absent. Sheaths with the margins fused only in the lower part; glabrous; collars collars present. Ligules present; 1.3–2.7 mm long; membranous; glabrous; ovate-oblong; apices acute, or obtuse; entire. Blades 30–80 mm long; 1.5–2.5 mm wide; spreading from the vertical; folded in bud; linear; flat, or involute; with parallel veins; midvein conspicuously larger than the lateral veins; bulliform cells in distinct rows on either side of the midvein; adaxial surface glabrous. Blades abaxial surface glabrous.
Flowering culm nodes becoming exposed; number visible 0–2. Flag leaf sheaths inflated, or not inflated. Inflorescences paniculate; inflorescence dense; inflorescence lanceolate (a contracted panicle, or diffuse); inflorescence 3–4 cm long; inflorescence 10–20 mm wide; inflorescence main axis glabrous. Number of inflorescence branches at lowest node 5 (or more). Inflorescence primary branches 1.4–14 mm long; glabrous; with appressed secondary branches, or with spreading secondary branches. Spikelets pedicellate; disarticulating above the glumes; laterally compressed; lanceolate to ovate; 2.5–3 mm long; 0.8–1.6 mm wide (Phippsia-like). Florets per spikelet (1–)2(–3). First glume 0.5–0.65 × the length of the second glume; 0.2–0.25 × spikelet length; 0.5–0.8 mm long; ovate; glabrous; margins glabrous; veins 0–1; apex obtuse. Second glume 0.4 × as long as the spikelet or less; shorter than the lowest floret; 1.1–1.3 mm long; ovate; glabrous; veins 1. Rachilla internode 0.2–2.2 mm long; glabrous, or hairy. Rachilla not pronounced between the florets; extending beyond the uppermost floret. Callus not differentiated. Lemma 2.3–2.5 mm long; ovate; rounded on the back; surface dull; surface hairy; surface with trichomes on and between the veins (in lower third); veins (1–)3. Lemma apex acute; entire, or erose; awnless. Palea well developed; 2–2.3 mm long; with hairy veins. Perianth reduced to lodicules. Stamens 3. Anthers 0.9–1 mm long. Carpels syncarpous; 3. Gynoecia superior. Styles 2. Ovules 1. Fruit a caryopsis (never found).
Chromosome information. 2n = 21 (Hedberg 1962).
Distribution. Arctic Islands: Baffin, Devon, Ellesmere, Axel Heiberg, Conrwallis. Previously known in Canada from Craig Harbour, Ellesmere Island, and near Resolute, Cornwallis Island (Hedberg 1967), this species was recently collected in 1999 and 2000 on Axel Heiberg, Devon, Bathurst and Baffin Islands by Gillespie, Consaul and Soreng (Vouchers at CAN, US).
Ecology and habitat. Substrates, wet meadows, around the margins of ponds, tundra (damp open habitats.); imperfectly drained moist areas, on seepage slopes; calcareous; silt, till, moss.
Taxon as an environmental indicator. This species is found in similar habitats to Phippsia, with which it is usually growing.
Notes. "Boivin (1967) published ×Maltea for what he considered to be the intergeneric hybrid Phippsia × Puccinellia. As this is not a condensed formula, the name cannot be used for that intergeneric hybrid, for which the correct name is ×Pucciphippsia Tzvelev (1971). Boivin did, however, provide a Latin description and designate a type; consequently, Maltea is a validly published generic name and is correct if its type is treated as belonging to a separate genus, not a nothogenus (Greuter et al. 1994).
Hedberg (1962) found this hybrid growing at an archeological site, on Cornwallis Island, near the former site of the village at Resolute close to the seashore. His detailed description includes photographs comparing spikelets, leaf cross sections, and chromosome studies. Canadian ×Pucciphippsia involves Phippsia algida as the Phippsia parent, but in Europe, hybrids with P. concinna may occur (Hedberg 1962). This may explain slight differences between this description and that given by Halliday and Hughes (1980). A study of ×Pucciphippsia in Svalbard indicated that specimens there were triploid and sterile. Additive banding in one enzyme supported its origin as a Puccinellia- Phippsia hybrid, and morphological evidences suggests that Ph. algida is the most probable Phippsia parent(Steen 2000).
Illustrations. • Habitat. Nunavut, Cornwallis Island, Resolute Bay, 74°41'N, 94°50'W. Moist gentle slope behind Polar Continental Shelf Project Base, most common in wet seep area at base of slope, with abundant moss and algal mats. 9 August 1999. L.J. Gillespie 6688, L.L. Consaul & R.J. Soreng. CAN. • Close-up of plant. Nunavut, Devon Island, Dundas Harbour, W of harbour mouth, 74°31.3'N, 82°33.5'W. S-facing gradual slope near top of mountain on W side of harbour near mouth, ~500 m, moist stony striped-patterned ground. 8 August 1999. L.J. Gillespie 6683, L.L. Consaul & R.J. Soreng. CAN. • Close-up of plant. Nunavut, Devon Island, Dundas Harbour, W of harbour mouth, 74°31.3'N, 82°33.5'W. S-facing gradual slope near top of mountain on W side of harbour near mouth, ~500 m, moist stony striped-patterned ground. 8 August 1999. L.J. Gillespie 6683, L.L. Consaul & R.J. Soreng. CAN. • Close-up of plant. Nunavut, Devon Island, Dundas Harbour, W of harbour mouth, 74°31.3'N, 82°33.5'W. S-facing gradual slope near top of mountain on W side of harbour near mouth, ~500 m, moist stony striped-patterned ground. 8 August 1999. L.J. Gillespie 6683, L.L. Consaul & R.J. Soreng. CAN. • Close-up of inflorescence. Nunavut, Devon Island, Dundas Harbour, W of harbour mouth, 74°31.3'N, 82°33.5'W. S-facing gradual slope near top of mountain on W side of harbour near mouth, ~500 m, moist stony striped-patterned ground. 8 August 1999. L.J. Gillespie 6683, L.L. Consaul & R.J. Soreng. CAN. • Photograph. Photograph from Porsild (1955). • Distribution map.
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).
