Bartsia
Bartsia alpina
velvetbells
alpenhelm, alpine bartsia, bartsie alpine, djaevelens blomster, tornarsup-narsue, velvet bells
erect, not fleshy, pilose and eglandular at base, hirsute and glandular at apex.
basal (scalelike) and cauline (expanded), decussate;
petiole absent;
blade not fleshy, subleathery or not, margins crenate to serrate.
4–10 pairs, divaricate;
blade ovate, (5–)10–25 x (6–)9–17 mm, rugose, abaxial surface glabrescent to hirsute, adaxial glabrescent.
terminal, racemes;
bracts present.
with 2–8 pairs of flowers;
bracts resembling foliage leaves, distal ones violet.
present;
bracteoles absent.
2–4 mm.
sepals 4, calyx bilaterally symmetric, tubular, lobes triangular;
petals 5, corolla violet to yellow, strongly bilabiate, funnelform, abaxial lobes 3, adaxial 2, adaxial lip galeate;
stamens 4, didynamous, filaments minutely pubescent;
staminode 0;
ovary 2-locular, placentation axile;
stigma subcapitate.
+/- divaricate, 15–20 mm;
calyx green, often with violet markings, 5–9 mm, divided less than 1/2 length, hirsute;
corolla scarcely curved, pilose, galea 3–5 mm, divided from abaxial lip less than 1/4 length of corolla, abaxial lip 2–3 mm;
stamens included, 1/3–1/2 length of corolla from base, extending to abaxial lip;
anthers white, equal, apex mucronate, villous;
style 14–20 mm, stigma +/- exserted.
dehiscence loculicidal.
ovoid, terete, 6–10 mm.
ca. 50, white, fusiform-cylindric, wings present.
1.4–2 mm.
= 12.
= 24.
Bartsia
Bartsia alpina
Species 1.
Until recently, Bartsia included 49 species distributed in North America, South America, Eurasia, and Africa (U. Molau 1990). However, phylogenetic analyses of nuclear and chloroplast genes, obtained using both traditional and high-throughput sequencing, indicate that Bartsia so circumscribed is polyphyletic (S. Uribe-Convers and D. C. Tank 2015, 2016; Uribe-Convers et al. 2016). The type species, B. alpina, is recovered on a branch with no other species of Bartsia; therefore, Bartsia is herein treated as monospecific following Uribe-Convers and Tank (2016). The remaining species of Bartsia have been placed in Bellardia, Hedbergia Molau, and a new South American genus, Neobartsia Uribe-Convers & Tank. Of these, only Bellardia occurs in the flora area.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Bartsia alpina has been reported to parasitize a wide range of hosts, including members of Ericaceae, Fabaceae, and Poaceae (U. Molau 1990). Outside the flora area, it occurs throughout northern Europe and in disjunct populations in the Alps and Pyrenees.
Bartsia alpina has been divided into varieties based primarily on variation in the color of the corolla. The most common form has violet corollas; other populations throughout the range occasionally include individuals with pale violet to yellow corollas. U. Molau (1990) reported that these forms are likely an expression of phenotypic variation induced by infection by either a gall fly or imperfect fungus.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
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