Comarum palustre |
Rosaceae tribe Potentilleae |
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comaret des marais, marsh potentilla, marsh-cinquefoil, purple cinquefoil, purple marsh-locks |
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Habit | Herbs, perennial, rarely annual or biennial, shrubs, or subshrubs; unarmed. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Stems | 1–10(–18) dm. |
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Leaves | petiole 5–10(–15) cm; leaflets usually abaxially glaucous, adaxially green, sometimes silvery-silky, often aging reddish, 1.5–10(–12) × (0.8–)1–5 cm. |
alternate, rarely opposite, pinnately (palmately) compound (simple in Alchemilla, Aphanes, and Chamaerhodos); stipules persistent (absent in Chamaerhodos), adnate to petiole; venation pinnate or palmate. |
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Pedicels | 5–25(–30) mm. |
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Flowers | epicalyx bractlets narrowly lanceolate to lanceolate, 2–7(–9) mm, usually equal to or shorter than sepals; sepals greenish purple adaxially, (5–)7–12(–14) mm, apex acuminate; petals 2.5–6(–8) mm; anthers dark purple, 0.8–1.2 mm, connectives thickened, greenish purple to purple; styles 0.9–2 mm. |
perianth and androecium perigynous; epicalyx bractlets present, sometimes absent; hypanthium usually patelliform, cupulate, or campanulate, sometimes turbinate, saucer-shaped, flat-bottomed, or subglobose to ellipsoid or ovoid; torus flat to conic or turbinate, enlarged (absent or reduced in Alchemilla, Aphanes, and Chamaerhodos); carpels 1–260, styles basal or lateral to subterminal, distinct; ovules 1(or 2), basal. |
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Fruits | aggregated achenes (achenes in Alchemilla and Aphanes); torus sometimes fleshy; styles deciduous or persistent, not elongate. |
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2n | = 28, (35)36, 42, (60, 62, 63)64. |
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Comarum palustre |
Rosaceae tribe Potentilleae |
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Phenology | Flowering summer. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Habitat | Shallow, often sphagnum-dominated ponds, bogs, wet meadows, marshes, stream banks, and lake margins, mainly in boreal and low arctic habitats in the north, subalpine to alpine sites in the south | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Elevation | 0–3100 m (0–10200 ft) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Distribution |
AK; CA; CO; CT; IA; ID; IL; IN; MA; ME; MI; MN; MT; ND; NH; NJ; NY; OH; OR; PA; UT; VT; WA; WI; WY; AB; BC; MB; NB; NL; NS; NT; NU; ON; PE; QC; SK; YT; SPM; Greenland; Eurasia
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North America; Mexico; Central America; South America; West Indies; Bermuda; Eurasia; Africa; Atlantic Islands; Pacific Islands; Australia |
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Discussion | Comarum palustre is circumboreal; it occurs in a broad band across the northernmost United States and Canada as far north as the low arctic. Disjunct populations occur well to the north, as on Baffin and Victoria islands, and in the south, as in Gunnison County, Colorado, and the Uinta Mountains of Utah. Appropriate habitats are uncommon and geographically restricted in the southern part of the range, for example, in Idaho, Montana, and North Dakota. Comarum palustre is sometimes divided into subspecies, varieties, and/or forms on the basis of vestiture, leaflet dimensions, and flower number (for example, M. L. Fernald and B. H. Long 1914; N. N. Tzvelev 2007). Because there is no existing consensus, and a global evaluation of the situation is beyond the scope of this work, no infraspecific taxa are recognized here. Within North America, northern populations tend to have broader leaflets and inflorescences composed of one to relatively few flowers with relatively short sepals and petals, but these differences are not consistent; similar plants occur in subalpine settings in the mountains well to the south. Chromosome numbers also vary, apparently not correlated with morphology or geography; some populations occasionally include individuals of different disploid and polyploid levels. Horizontal stems were used occasionally by Native Americans as a medicinal aid in the treatment of dysentery and stomach cramps (D. E. Moerman 1998). Aquatic birds in particular eat the leaves and achenes. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Genera 14–22, species ca. 860 (14 genera, 189 species, including 1 hybrid, in the flora area). The base chromosome number for Potentilleae is mostly x = 7 (8 in Alchemilla and Aphanes; 14 in Comarum). Variation in the number of genera recognized in Potentilleae is due to differences in generic delimitation between D. Potter et al. (2007) and the authors of Potentilla and segregates here (see 9. Ivesia and 8. Potentilla for discussion). In the former, Duchesnea, Horkelia, Horkeliella, and Ivesia are included within Potentilla. Likewise, Aphanes is included within Alchemilla by Potter et al. while it is kept distinct here. Potentilla and its segregates and Fragaria are host to Phragmidium rusts, but not the other genera of the tribe. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
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Key |
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Source | FNA vol. 9, p. 301. | FNA vol. 9, p. 119. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Synonyms | C. palustre subsp. angustifolium, C. palustre subsp. arcticum, Fragaria palustris, Potentilla palustris, P. palustris var. parvifolia, P. palustris var. villosa | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Name authority | Linnaeus: Sp. Pl. 1: 502. (1753) | Sweet: Brit. Fl. Gard. 2: sub plate 124. (1825) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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