Flora of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago
| Flora of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago | |
English: Common wood rush,
French: Luzule multiflore,
Inuktitut: Iviit, ivisuka, ivitsuskaka.
Juncaceae, Rush family.
Published in Bot. Zhurn. 12: 490. 1927.
Synonymy. Luzula campestris (L.) DC. var. frigida Buchenau, Oesterr. Bot. Zeitschr. 48: 284. 1898.
Luzula frigida (Buchenau) Sam. in Lindm., Sv. Fanerogamfl. 161; 1918.
Luzula kjellmaniana Miyabe and Kudô subsp. frigida (Buchenau) Schljakov, Novosti Sist. Vyssh. Rast. 16: 85. 1979.
Luzula multiflora (Ehrh.) Lej. subsp. frigida (Buchenau) Krecz. var. contracta Sam. ex Kartesz and S.K. Gandhi, Phytologia 69: 132. 1990. [Index Kewensis: Contrary to Art. 37.4 ICBN 1988].
Vegetative morphology. Plants (4–)15–30(–40) cm high; perennial herbs; caespitose. Only fibrous roots present. Ground level or underground stems absent. Aerial stems erect. Leaves mainly basal; alternate; marcescent. Petioles absent. Sheaths present. Ligules absent. Leaves grass-like. Blades 20–80(–120) mm long, 1–5(–6) mm wide, straight, linear, flat or involute (loosely), veins parallel. Blade adaxial surface glabrous. Blade abaxial surface glabrous. Blade margins with non-glandular hairs (sparse, white, 1–7 mm long); apices acuminate (often with calloused tips).
Reproductive morphology. Flowering stems circular or oval in cross section. Flowering stems with leaves (3–8 cm long). Leaf or reduced bract subtending the base of the inflorescence present; conspicuous and leaf-like; exceeding the inflorescence; with calloused tip. Inflorescences head-like, or a raceme of spikes; dense; 0.5–2 cm long. Pedicels absent (individual flowers), or present (subtending the (1-)2–5 spicate 8–16 clusters of flowers). Individual spike(s) erect (inflorescence either sessile or on a short peduncle). Floral bracts apices lacerate (slightly). Flowers per inflorescence 20–80; small. Sepals conventional (brown tepals); 3; free; 2–4 mm wide (with stiffly pointed tips); brown (black, reddish); scarious; non-accrescent. Calyx tip mucronate; glabrous. Petals conventional (brown tepals); free; same length as the calyx; 3; brown (black, reddish); lanceolate; unlobed; 2–3 mm long (tips truncate-mucronate). Stamens 6. Anthers 0.5–0.7 mm long. Ovary superior; carpels 3; syncarpous. Styles 3; free. Stigmas per ovary 3. Ovules per ovary 3. Fruit sessile; with calyx persisting; dry; a capsule; ovoid; black, or brown; 1.5–2 mm long; 1–1.3 mm wide (intact capsules, similar in length to the tepals); not distinctly flattened; dehiscent. Seeds 3; (0.8–)1.1–1.4 mm long (caruncles, 0.2–0.6 mm); brown; surfaces ridged.
Chromosome information. 2n (4x = 24). Zhukova and Petrovsky (1976, western Chukotka, 'sibirica', 1987a, northern and northeastern Asia, 'multiflora'); Belaeva and Siplivinsky (1976, southern and northern Siberia, 'sibirica');
2n = 36 (6x). Hagerup (1941b, northern Europe); Löve and Löve (1944a, northern Europe); Böcher (1950, Greenland); Nordenskiöld (1951, northern Europe); Jørgensen et al. (1958, Greenland); Knaben and Engelskjøn (1967, southern and northern Norway, eight counts); Knaben (1968, Alaska); Hämet-Ahti and Virrankoski (1971, Alaska, two counts); Zhukova and Petrovsky (1976, western Chukotka, 'kjellmaniana'); Dawe and Murray, in Löve (1979, Alaska);
Engelskjøn (1979, Norway); Zhukova (1980, southern Chukotka, 'kjellmaniana' and 'sibirica'); Löve (1981d, central Canada); Zhukova (1982, northeastern Asia, 'multiflora'); Kirschner (1992a, 'frigida' and 'sibirica').
Ploidy levels recorded 4x/6x.
Ecology and habitat. Substrates: lakeshores (on the slopes above the shore), slopes (damp, grassy); imperfectly drained moist areas, dry. The few Arctic Island records that we have examined report the species growing on slopes, usually grassy and moist. It is described as locally sparse, and growing with Salix herbacea, Euphrasia sp., and Carex bigelowii subsp. bigelowii. Porsild and Cody (1980) describe the habitat of Luzula multiflora across its geographic range as "turfy areas, often by the edge of ponds".
North American distribution. Nunavut Islands, northern Quebec, Labrador. Range in the Canadian Arctic Archipelago limited. Rare. Low Arctic. Arctic islands: Baffin (Beekman Peninsula and Frobisher Bay, Ogac Lake), Banks.
Northern hemisphere distribution. Circumpolar, or circumboreal. Northern Iceland, Northern Fennoscandian, Kanin–Pechora, Polar Ural – Novaya Zemlya, Yamal–Gydan, Taimyr – Severnaya Zemlya, Anabar–Olenyok, Kharaulakh, Yana–Kolyma, West Chukotka, South Chukotka, West Alaska, North Alaska – Yukon, Central Canada, Labrador – Hudson Bay, West Greenland, East Greenland.
General notes. Jarolimova and Kirschner (1995) studied plants of Luzula multiflora s.l. in Ireland from 14 populations that were invariably tetraploid with 2n = 24. Chromosomes of the tetraploid are of AL type (true tetraploidy). Meiosis of the tetraploids is of the same type as described for other Luzula taxa in the literature. In meiosis, 12 bivalents are regularly formed. A hypothesis, based on the morphological and allozyme data, that the tetraploids are of alloploid origin was supported by the results. Meiosis in an artificial hybrid between the presumed parental taxa, L. campestris and L. pallidula, was studied, and a tendency towards chromosome doubling was observed.
Extensive work on this and related taxa has been done in Europe by Kirschner (1990, 1991, 1992, and 1997), Kirschner and Krisa (1980); Kirschner and Rich (1996).
This taxon was anticipated as occurring on the Arctic Archipelago by Porsild (1957) and reported for Baffin Island, Ogac Lake, and Beekman Peninsula by McLaren (1964). These records do not appear in the Flora of North America map (Brooks and Clemants 2000). This taxon was collected in 2004 near Ogac Lake, by Aiken and LeBlanc.
Illustrations. • Habitat. Plants growing between the markers. Nunavut, Baffin Island, Ogac Lake. 9 July, 2004. Aiken and LeBlanc 04–035. CAN 586506. • Close-up of plant. Close-up of plant in previous image. Nunavut, Baffin Island, Ogac Lake. 9 July, 2004. Aiken and LeBlanc 04–035. CAN 586506. • Close-up of plant. Close-up of plant in previous image. Plant coming into flower with receptive stigmas visible. Aiken and LeBlanc 04–035. CAN 586506. • Inflorescence in bud. Inflorescence of flower buds with blackish brown tepals. Aiken and LeBlanc 04–066. CAN. • Close-up of flowers. Globular inflorescence of dark reddish brown flowers and subtending bracts. Bracts with long hairs and sepals tipped with an awn-like bristle. Aiken and LeBlanc 04–066. CAN. • Close-up of inflorescence. Close-up of multispicate inflorescence. Three receptive stigmas per flower. Aiken and LeBlanc 04–035. CAN 586506. • Close-up of inflorescence. Above, inflorescence is wider than high. Below, floral scales are whitish and lacerate; tepals are sharply pointed (awn-tipped, shown by arrow). Nunavut, Baffin Island, Frobisher Bay, Ogac Lake. CAN 274115. • Close-up of fruit. Fruit a sessile ovoid brown capsule, 1.5–2 mm long and 1–1.3 mm wide, with persistent tepals. • 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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