Arctic Plants: Morphology and Synonymy 7 b 



Three species are enumerated by Beal as representatives of the genus 

 Colpodium in North America: C.fulvum (Trin.) Griseb., C. pendulinum (Laestad.) 

 Griseb., and C. mucronatum (Hack.) Beal. Considering the fact that Colpodium 

 in the sense of Trinius was originally intended for both C. Steveni and Phippsia 

 algida, it seems difficult to find any good ground for admitting species of so 

 little affinity as those of Arctophila and still crediting the genus to Trinius. And 

 the species of Arctophila have themselves been transferred from one genus to 

 another. Thus we find them as members of Poa, Glyceria, Graphephorum, and 

 finally of Colpodium. ^ 



Considered by themselves, the species of Ruprecht's Arctophila ^ constitute 

 an excellent little genus, and we might cite Ruprecht's own words when he 

 proposed the genus in his "Flores Samojedorum cisuralensium" : 



"Arctophila a Catabrosa {air aide) praesertim differt glumarum conforma- 

 tione et longitudine, hac nota etiam et insuper valvulis ecostatis a Glyceria R. 

 Br. recedit. Atropis Trin. (P. distans) Catabrosae quoad glumas proxima, 

 spiculas habet (saltern in statu virgineo) linear es, fere teretes; in Arctophila 

 nostra semper ex ovato-oblongae vel lanceolatae. Conjunctioni Arctophilae 

 cum Poa obstant: valvulae dorso concavae vel saltern minus compressae; flosculi 

 lana numquam cincti, nee ad nervos dorsales sericei, sed ad callum more Aven- 

 acearum pilis rigidis obsiti; valvula inferior apice vix integerrima, sed margo 

 plerumque irregulariter denticulatus et erosus, saltem crenulatus et apex saepe 

 obtusus vel truncatus; habi*is etiam nobilior colore fulvo paniculae saepe 

 intermixto; spiculae majores plerumque et flosculi demum patuli, remotiusculi." 



The species that are best known are: Arctophila fulva (Trin.) Rupr., A. 

 pendulina (Laestad.) Ands., and A. effusa Lge., especially the first of these 

 since the Greenland plant, A. effusa, was for many years considered identical 

 with A. pendulina by Fries, Grisebach, and several other authors. 



The species found by Mr. Johansen is A. effusa Lge., described in Conspectus 

 Fl. Groenl. as follows: "Satis superque differt planta groenlandica, in Fl. Dan. 

 tab. 2343 nomine Poae pendulinae divulgata, a Glyceria pendulina Laest. vera, 

 Lapponiae tornensis et rossicae incola, statura humiliore foliis brevioribus, 

 culmo erecto (nee apice nutante), ramis deflexis, in verticillo 1-2, raro 3, flosculis 

 in spicula 2-3 (nee 3-6) minus laxe dispositis, glumis obtusiusculis, spicula parum 

 brevioribus, etc. Botanici plures (I. Vahl, Fries, Ledebour, etc.) has 2 species, 

 inter se valde dissimiles, infauste junxerunt, quare plantam Groenlandicam I.e. 

 nomine novo designare coactus sum." 



West Greenland, between 64° 10' and 65° 20', in damp situations, very 

 rare; Sukkertoppen, Godthaab (Vahl). 



A depauperate form of this species is known from Spitzbergen, formerly 

 considered as distinct and named Colpodium Malmgreni Ands.^ 



While Grisebach (I.e.) only recognized A. fulva and A. pendulina, seven other 

 species had been described by Ruprecht (I.e.) but merely referred to as synonyms 

 in Flora Rossica; they were collected on the island Kolgujew and on the Russian 

 coast near Kambalnitza and Bjelaja. 



The genus seems to be rare in North America, but specimens belonging to 

 it have been collected in various parts of Alaska and adjacent islands and also 

 in Canada. These specimens have been generally identified as A. fulva or A. 

 pendulina; of these the former is known only from Muckelung river and the 

 Hudson bay region, and, so far as I know, A. pendulina has never been found 

 on this continent. 



In the copious material sent to me for identification from the Canadian 

 Government, I found four species, which appeared distinct, and of which three 

 have been described and figured in my paper: On the genus Arctophila Rupr.' 



• Ruprecht, F. J.: Syrabolae ad historiam et geographiam plantarum Rossioarum. 1846, p. 62-85. 

 ' Anderson, N. I. Bidrag till den nordiska Floran I. Ett hittills obeskritvet graa fr4n Spetsbergen. 

 (Ofvers. Kongl. Vet. Akad. Forhdlgr. No. 5, p. 121, Stockholm, 1866.) 

 'The Ottawa Naturalist, June, 1902, p. 83. 



