Flora of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago
| Flora of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago | |
English: Bog sandwort,
French: Minuartie raide.
Caryophyllaceae, Pink family.
Published in J. Bot. 37: 320. 1899.
Type: Sweden, Lule Lappmark, leg. Swartz. Holotype: S.
Synonymy. Spergula stricta Sw., Kongl. Vetensk. Acad. Nya Handl. 20: 235. 1799.
Arenaria stricta Michx., Fl. Bor. Amer. 1: 274. 1803.
Alsinanthe stricta (Sw.) Rchb., Icon. Fl. Germ. v. 29. t. 209. f. 4935. 1841.
Arenaria uliginosa Schleich. ex Schlecht., in Ges. Naturf Fr. Berl. Mag. 7. 307. 1813.
Arenaria uliginosa f. albina Polunin, Bull. Natl. Mus. Canada 94 (Biol. Ser. 24): 203. 1940.
Arenaria stricta Michx. var. uliginosa (Schleich.) B. Boivin, Natural. Canad. 93: 642. 1966.
Vegetative morphology. Plants 2–10(–20) cm high; perennial herbs; caespitose (loosely). Taproot present. Ground level or underground stems horizontal, or absent; stoloniferous; compact; 0.5–1.2 mm wide. Horizontal stems at ground level, branching extensively to shape plant habit as mats (or loosely tufted). Caudex absent. Aerial stems decumbent. Leaves distributed along the stems; opposite; marcescent. Petioles absent. Leaf blades simple. Leaf blade bases cuneate. Blades 4–8(–12) mm long, 0.4–0.8(–1) mm wide, spreading, linear, flat or folded, with inconspicuous veins. Blade adaxial surface dull, glabrous. Blade abaxial surface glabrous. Blade margins glabrous; apices acute.
Reproductive morphology. Flowering stems two or more per plant; with leaves. Flowers solitary, or in inflorescences. Inflorescences with flowers in a dichasium. Flowers per inflorescence (1–)2–3(–4); small. Sepals conventional; 5; free; 2.5–3.5 mm wide; green, or purple; herbaceous and scarious. Calyx glabrous. Petals conventional; free; same length as the calyx, or longer than the calyx (slightly); 5; white; oblanceolate; unlobed; 2.5–3.7 mm long. Stamens 10; stamen filaments glabrous. Anthers yellow; ellipsoid; 0.2–0.4 mm long. Ovary superior; carpels 3; syncarpous. Ovaries ovate; glabrous. Styles 3; free; 1–1.4 mm long. Stigmas per ovary 1. Placentation free central. Ovules per ovary 6–10. Fruit with calyx persisting; dry; a capsule; ovoid; yellowish; 2.5–4 mm long; 1.8–2.2 mm wide; surface appearing veinless; dehiscent; opening with teeth at the top of the capsule; teeth 3. Seeds several; 0.6–1.2 mm long; brown; surfaces verrucose.
Chromosome information. 2n = 22, 26, and 30.
2n = 22. Blackburn and Morton (1957, western and northern Europe);
2n (2x) = 26. Sørensen and Westergaard, in Löve and Löve (1948, Greenland); Jørgensen et al. (1958, Greenland); Zhukova (1967a, Chukotka); Löve et al. (1971, western North America);
2n (2x) = 30. Favarger (1967); Engelskjøn and Knaben (1971, southern and northern Norway); Löve and Löve, in Löve (1975a), Löve and Löve (1982, Arctic Canada); Yurtsev and Zhukova (1982, northern Siberia).
Ploidy levels recorded 2x.
Ecology and habitat. Substrates: wet meadows, hummocks, marshes, along streams, lakeshores (beach); seepage slopes; rocks, gravel, sand; with low organic content, with high organic content; calcareous.
North American distribution. Alaska, Yukon, continental Northwest Territories, Nunavut Islands, continental Nunavut, northern Quebec, Labrador. Range in the Canadian Arctic Archipelago limited. Uncommon. Low Arctic. Arctic islands: Baffin, Southampton (Akpatok).
Northern hemisphere distribution. Circumpolar, or circumboreal (arctic-alpine). Northern Iceland, Northern Fennoscandian, Kanin–Pechora, Svalbard – Franz Joseph Land, Polar Ural – Novaya Zemlya, Yamal–Gydan, Taimyr – Severnaya Zemlya, Anabar–Olenyok, Kharaulakh, Yana–Kolyma, West Chukotka, East Chukotka, West Alaska, North Alaska – Yukon, Central Canada, Labrador – Hudson Bay, West Greenland, East Greenland.
General notes. Minuartia stricta is closely related to M. rossii. Nannfeldt (1954) studied the relationship between these two taxa and recognised both as species.
"Arctic occurrences of this species are probably rare. There seems to be many misidentifications, partly of glabrous M. rubella var. propinqua and partly of M. rossii" (Elven et al. 2003).
Minuartia dawsonensis is similar in many aspects to M. stricta and has sometimes been synonymised with it. It is accepted as a separate species in most recent studies of Minuartia. McNeill (1962) even placed it in a separate sect. Sclerophylla Mattf. (Elven, personal communication, 2005).
Illustrations. • Close-up of etiolated plant. Etiolated plant with widely spaced simple, opposite leaves. Plants had been growing in the shelter of a fence post. Nunavut, Baffin Island, Iqaluit. CAN 518353. • Close-up of inflorescence. Flowers with sepals as long as the petals. Nunavut, Coats Island. CAN 393503. • Herbarium specimen. Plant collected in polygons in Cassiope-Vaccinium heath. Greenland, Disko, Nordfjord, Stordal, 70�00'N, 54�09'W, alt. 100m. Andersen, Fredskild, and Hanfgarn 514. 13 August, 1975. O. • Arctic Island Distribution.
This publication is available on the internet (posted May 2011) and on CD-ROM (published in 2007). These versions are identical in content, except that the errata page for CD-ROM is accessible on the main index page of the web version.
Recommended citation for the web-based version of this publication: Aiken, S.G., Dallwitz, M.J., Consaul, L.L., McJannet, C.L., Boles, R.L., Argus, G.W., Gillett, J.M., Scott, P.J., Elven, R., LeBlanc, M.C., Gillespie, L.J., Brysting, A.K., Solstad, H., and Harris, J.G. 2007. Flora of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago: Descriptions, Illustrations, Identification, and Information Retrieval. NRC Research Press, National Research Council of Canada, Ottawa. http://nature.ca/aaflora/data, accessed on DATE.
Recommended citation for the CD-ROM version of this publication: Aiken, S.G., Dallwitz, M.J., Consaul, L.L., McJannet, C.L., Boles, R.L., Argus, G.W., Gillett, J.M., Scott, P.J., Elven, R., LeBlanc, M.C., Gillespie, L.J., Brysting, A.K., Solstad, H., and Harris, J.G. 2007. Flora of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago: Descriptions, Illustrations, Identification, and Information Retrieval. [CD-ROM] NRC Research Press, National Research Council of Canada, Ottawa.
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