SPECIES INFORMATION AND SYSTEMATIC STATUS 



As stated by Shelly (1989) varieties flava and lanceolata are well differentiated 

 genetically. The following is a synopsis of systematic information gained to date on the 

 two varieties: 



o Preliminary analysis of the morphological data indicate that variety lanceolata 



and variety flava are significantly different, primarily in leaf length and width, 

 and in petal shape (Shelly 1991). Variety flava has long slender leaves, and 

 petal blades that are round at the tip, whereas variety lanceolata has shorter and 

 wider leaves, petals that are frequently tinged or lined with pink, and petal 

 blades that are often notched at the tip. 



o In Utah, C. lanceolata var. lanceolata was shown to have chromosome numbers 



of n = 8, 12, and 16 (Stewart and Wiens 1971), indicating a polyploid series. 

 Interpretation of banding patterns from electrophoretic data of the Montana 

 variety flava populations was easy due to simple diploid expression (Soltis 1991), 

 while variety lanceolata expressed more complex tetraploid (probably 

 autotetraploid) banding patterns (Wolf 1988). For variety flava , 2n=l6 was 

 obtained from mitotic counts (Lewis 1987). 



o At Cinnamon Creek (010), populations of variety flava and variety lanceolata 



overiap, but plants with intermediate characteristics were not obsei-ved (Lisa Roe, 

 pers. obs. and collections (428) and (429) as outlined under Documentation, 

 p. 10). In support of these observations, data from the electrophoretic analysis 

 "strongly indicate" that although C. lanceolata var. flava is an outcrosser, there is 

 little or no gene flow between var. lanceolata and var. flava (Wolf 1988). This 

 contradicts the hypothesis by Shelly (1989), who felt that variety flava might be 

 predominantly self-pollinating. 



o A study of C. lanceolata in western Washington (Douglas and Taylor 1972) 



showed that based on similarities in morphological measurements, and 

 chemotaxonomy, the yellow-petaled C. lanceolata var. chrysantha 'should be 

 relegated to synonymy under C. lanceolata var. lanceolata . "The difference in 

 petal color is most likely due to one or very few genes, as evidenced by the 

 virtual lack of intermediate color forms" (Douglas and Taylor 1972). Data from 

 studies of the yellow and white forms of C. lanceolata var. flava in Montana 

 indicate a similar relationship, with petal color being the only substantial 

 phenotypic difference (Wolf 1988, Shelly 1991). 



o 



For the Montana and Wyoming C. lanceolata var. flava populations sampled, 

 there was measurable genetic differentiation, indicating that no single locality 

 possesses the total genetic diversity of the taxon. 



