Draba alpina |
Draba palanderiana |
|
---|---|---|
alpine Draba |
palander's Draba, palander's whitlow-grass |
|
Habit | Perennials; (cespitose); caudex branched (covered with persistent leaves or leaf remains); scapose. | Perennials; (cespitose); caudex branched (with persistent leaf remains, branches sometimes terminating in sterile rosettes); scapose. |
Stems | unbranched, (0.3–)0.5–1.7(–2.8) dm, pubescent throughout, trichomes simple and 2-rayed, 0.3–0.8 mm, with 3–5-rayed ones, 0.1–0.3 mm. |
unbranched, 0.2–1.1(–1.5) dm, pubescent proximally, trichomes 2–9-rayed, 0.05–0.2 mm, glabrous or sparsely pubescent distally. |
Basal leaves | rosulate; petiolate; petiole base (not thickened), ciliate, (trichomes simple, 0.3–1 mm); blade oblanceolate to obovate or lanceolate to oblong, 0.8–3(–4.5) cm × 2.5–6(–9) mm, margins entire, surfaces abaxially pubescent with stalked, 2–4-rayed trichomes, 0.1–0.5 mm, with simple ones (midvein obscure, not thickened), adaxially glabrous or sparsely pubescent with simple and stalked, 2–4-rayed trichomes. |
rosulate; petiolate; petiole (thickened), ciliate proximally, (margin not ciliate, trichomes simple and 2-rayed, 0.2–0.5 mm); blade oblanceolate to obovate, 0.3–0.9(–1.5) cm × 1–4 mm, margins usually entire, rarely denticulate, surfaces pubescent with minutely stalked, 8–16-rayed, stellate trichomes, 0.08–0.3 mm, (midvein obscure abaxially). |
Cauline leaves | 0. |
0. |
Racemes | 6–18-flowered, ebracteate, considerably elongated in fruit; rachis not flexuous, pubescent as stem. |
5–17-flowered, ebracteate, elongated in fruit; rachis not flexuous, usually glabrous, rarely sparsely pubescent as stem. |
Flowers | sepals (purplish tinged), narrowly ovate, 2.5–3 mm, pubescent, (trichomes simple and fewer, stalked, 2-rayed); petals bright yellow, narrowly obovate, 3.5–5 × 1.7–2.5 mm; anthers ovate, 0.3–0.4 mm. |
sepals ovate, 2–2.5 mm, pubescent, (trichomes simple and short-stalked, 2–6-rayed); petals white or creamy white, obovate, 4.5–5.5 × 2–3 mm; anthers ovate, 0.4–0.6 mm. |
Fruiting pedicels | ascending to divaricate-ascending, straight or, sometimes, slightly curved upwards, 4–14(–30) mm, pubescent, trichomes simple and 2–4-rayed. |
divaricate-ascending, straight, (slender), 4–10 mm, usually glabrous, rarely sparsely pubescent as stem. |
Fruits | elliptic, plane, flattened, 6–10 × 2–3 mm; valves glabrous or glabrescent, trichomes simple, (not confined to replum); ovules 12–24 per ovary; style 0.2–0.3 mm (stigma about as wide as style). |
(often aborting, becoming lopsided), oblong to elliptic or ovate, plane, flattened, 4–8 × 2–3 mm; valves glabrous; ovules 18–32 per ovary; style 0.3 0.8 mm. |
Seeds | (pale brown), ovoid, 0.9–1.3 × 0.6–0.9 mm. |
ovoid, 0.9–1.1 × 0.5–0.7 mm. |
2n | = 80. |
= 16, 32, 64. |
Draba alpina |
Draba palanderiana |
|
Phenology | Flowering Jun–Aug. | Flowering Jun–Jul. |
Habitat | Moist tundra and ridges, sand and gravel flats or beaches | Rock outcrops, talus, Dryas fellfields, tundra |
Elevation | 0-1000 m (0-3300 ft) | 0-1800 m (0-5900 ft) |
Distribution |
LB; MB; NU; ON; QC; Greenland; Europe (Finland, Norway, Russia, Sweden)
|
AK; NT; YT; e Asia (Russian Far East, Siberia) |
Discussion | The synonymy above includes two North American names overlooked by C. L. Hitchcock (1941) and R. C. Rollins (1993). Draba alpina was broadly delimited by O. E. Schulz (1927) and included 17 varieties, some of which (e.g., corymbosa, oxycarpa, pilosa) are recognized herein as distinct species. The name D. alpina was so misapplied that it was used for any circumpolar or alpine, scapose, yellow-flowered, perennial Draba. Various chromosome numbers (e.g., 2n = 64, 80, 112, 120; S. I. Warwick and I. A. Al-Shehbaz 2006) have been reported for the species. As circumscribed here, it has the narrow distribution outlined above and includes plants with 2n = 80. Reports of the species from Alaska, Canadian Northwest Territories and Yukon, Siberia, eastern Asia, Russian Far East, and the Central Asian republics are either suspect or very unlikely. The entire D. alpina complex (including the above three species, D. glacialis Adams, D. macounii, etc.) is in need of critical molecular, cytological, and morphological study. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
North American plants of Draba palanderiana are diploid and appear to be self-incompatible, an unusual situation among arctic members of the genus. By contrast, some plants from the Russian Far East are tetraploid (2n = 32) or octoploid (2n = 64) and appear to be self-compatible. Detailed studies are needed to establish whether one or two taxa are involved. Many North American collections of Draba palanderiana have been misidentified as D. nivalis. The species is easily separated from D. nivalis by having ciliate (versus non-ciliate) bases of basal leaves, larger petals (4.5–5.5 × 2–3 versus 2–3.5 × 0.8–1.4 mm) that are pale yellow or cream (versus white), and longer fruiting pedicels 4–10 [versus 1–4.5(–8)] mm. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Source | FNA vol. 7, p. 290. | FNA vol. 7, p. 326. |
Parent taxa | Brassicaceae > tribe Arabideae > Draba | Brassicaceae > tribe Arabideae > Draba |
Sibling taxa | ||
Synonyms | D. alpina var. hydeana, D. alpina var. inflatisiliqua | |
Name authority | Linnaeus: Sp. Pl. 2: 642. (1753) | Kjellman: in A. E. Nordenskiöld, Vega Exp. Vetensk. Iakttag. 2: 45. (1883) |
Web links |