Eriophorum angustifolium subsp. angustifolium Honck.
Vollst. Syst. Verz. 153. 1782.
Eriophorum polystachyon
Plants with single unbranched stems; more than 15 cm high (usually); (7–)15–30(–40) cm high. Roots colourless, or pallid-brown. Ground level or underground stems horizontal (often missing from herbarium specimens); rhizomatous; elongate. Scales present (on horizontal stems). Aerial stems erect; not filiform (0.5–2.0 mm in diameter); circular or oval in cross section, or triangular in cross section (at the apex); glabrous. Leaves distributed along the stems (in the lower half). Sheaths greyish brown, or brown (pallid orange); with the margins fused to the apex; glabrous. Ligules present; 0.5–1 mm long; transversely oblong; apices obtuse; entire. Blades straight; linear; flat, or caniculate; glabrous, or scabrous (minutely scaberulous on margins).
Flowering stems conspicuously taller than the leaves; uppermost leaf arising above the middle of the stem (sheath cylindrical); glabrous. Leaf or reduced bract closely associated with the base of the inflorescence present; conspicuous and leaf-like, or reduced, or scale-like; shorter than the apex of the inflorescence (usually); 0.5–4.5 cm long; with sheath shorter than the blade. Inflorescence spicate; dense; 2–6(–12) cm long; 20–60 mm wide. Pedicels smooth ((1-)2–6(-10) cm long). Inflorescence multispicate; (1–)2–5 spikes (ovoid at maturity); lateral spikes borne on pedicels (subtended by 1–3 bracts). Individual spike(s) erect, or pendent (at maturity). Bisexual spike(s) with empty bracts at the base. Terminal spike with both sexes in each floret. Floral scales black, or pale grey (translucent; the single vein often not reaching to the tip of the scale); with margins paler than body of scale; acute; 4–7 mm long; 1.5–2.5 mm wide; glabrous. Perianth represented by bristles; bristles dull white or yellowish (40–50 mm long). Anthers (2.5–)3–4(–5) mm long. Stigmas per style 3. Fruit not surrounded by a perigynium; an achene (oblong ovoid or oblong elliptical); (2.5–)2.8–3(–3.5) mm long; black, or brown. Achenes trigonous.
Chromosome information. 2n = 58.
Distribution. Circumpolar. Arctic. Range in the Canadian Arctic Archipelago wide-spread. Common. Arctic Islands: Baffin, Ellesmere, Axel Heiberg, and Parry Islands (Melville and Bathurst), Banks, Victoria, Prince of Wales, Somerset, King William, Southampton, and Coats (Prince Charles).
Ecology and habitat. Substrate wet meadows, around the margins of ponds, marshes, river terraces, tundra; aquatic (emergent), or imperfectly drained, or on seepage slopes, or on solifluction slopes; calcareous; sand, silt (often in fluvial materials), moss, gravel, rock (bouldery rubble); with high organic content, or peat. Often the dominant plant, or in of Carex / Salix wet meadows in areas grazed by musk oxen. A common associate is C. aquatilis var. stans. Eriophorum angustifolium can also occur in drier tundra with Dryas. Typical geological site characteristics are drumlin ridges and intervening swales, calcareous alluvial outwash plains, knolls of dolomitic boulders, and sandstone plateaus.
Notes. 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 growth in E. angustifolium was improved by soil anoxia, and that biomass allocation among plant parts was not significantly affected, indicating that the species is well adapted to flooded, wet habitat.
In a study of scale-dependent correlation's of Arctic vegetation and snow cover in southeastern Victoria Island, Schaefer and Messier (1995) found that E. angustifolium exhibited positive associations with various measures of snow cover. It is thought that snow cover may reduce the rate of desiccation, protect plants from abrasion, and insulate from low temperatures during the winter season.
Photoinhibition occurs in plants when cold temperatures and high light levels cause free radical formation and subsequent destruction of the photosynthetic membranes. In his study of this phenomenon in high alpine populations of E. angustifolium in Tirol, Austria, Lutz (1996) showed that the species avoids this hazard by delaying the development of the photosynthetic apparatus until favourable temperature conditions. Only etiolated leaves are formed early in the season. When photosynthetic membranes do appear they are protected by a set of carotenoids and antioxidants.
Ferland and Rochefort (1997) report that E. angustifolium has a positive effect on the survival of peat mosses during the restoration of ombotrophic peatlands at Maisonnette, New Brunswick. It is easily transplanted and propagated, and is the companion species that leads to the best recolonization of Sphagnum diaspores.
The earliest name for this taxon is E. polystachion L. but there is a proposal to reject this name Turland (1997). Polunin (1940) gave three reasons for rejecting this name.
Illustrations. • Plants in habitat. Cotton-grass meadow. Tuktoyaktuk, N.W.T near pingo, 20 July, 1981, J.M. Gillett 18694, CAN. • Close-up of plants. Plants with multispicate inflorescences. Tuktoyaktuk, N.W.T., July 20, 1981, J.M. Gillett 18694, CAN. • Close-up of young inflorescence. Young inflorescence with three spikes showing and stigmas appearing before the anthers. N.W.T., Banks Island, Aulavik National Park, 8 July, 1999, Susan Aiken 99–027. • Close-up of young inflorescence. Young inflorescence with three spikes showing and anthers just beginning to appear after stigmas have appeared. N.W.T., Banks Island, Aulavik National Park, 8 July, 1999, Susan Aiken 99–027, CAN. • Close-up of young inflorescence. Young inflorescence with three or more spikes showing and anthers just beginning to appear. N.W.T., Banks Island, Aulavik National Park, 8 July, 1999, Susan Aiken 99–027, CAN. • Close-up of inflorescence. Close-up of previous image. The "cotton" is composed of silky white perianth bristles. Tuktoyaktuk, N.W.T., July 20, 1981. J.M. Gillett 18694, CAN. • Close-up of leaf sheath. Close-up of side view of leaf sheaths showing a cylinder-like junction between the blade and the sheath. Collected Nunavut, Ellesmere Island, Tanquary Fiord. G.R. Brassard 3132a, 26 July, 1967. CAN 320200. • Close-up of leaf sheath. Close-up of front view of leaf sheath showing a cylinder-like junction between the blade and the sheath. Collected Nunavut, Ellesmere Island, Svedrdrup Pass, J.M. Gillett 18189, 17 July, 1979. CAN 453905. • Arctic Island distribution.
Cite this publication as: Aiken, S.G., Boles, R.L., and Dallwitz, M.J. 1999 onwards. ‘Cyperaceae of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago: Descriptions, Illustrations, Identification, and Information Retrieval.’ Version: 6th November 2000. http://http://www.mun.ca/biology/delta/arcticf/. Dallwitz (1980) and Dallwitz, Paine and Zurcher (1993, 1995, 2000) should also be cited (see References).
