A NEW SUBSPECIES OF PEDICULARIS SYLVATICA L. 



By D. A. Webb 

 Trinity College, Dublin 



Pedicularis SYLVATICA suhsp. HiBERNiCA, suhsp. Tiov . A typo (suhsp. sylvatica) 

 discedit calycihus pedicellisque uhique pilis alhis crispis longiusculis indutis. A subspecie 

 lusitanica {Hoffmanns. & Link) Fic. discedit calyce tola superficie, non solum secus angulos, 

 villoso, et hahitu minore, cum caule centrali infra spicam hrevissimo. 



Differs from the type (subsp. sylvatica) in the calyx and pedicels, which are uniformly 

 clothed with rather long white curled hairs. Differs from subsp. lusitanica (Hoffmanns. & 

 Link) Fic. in that the calyx is hairy all over and not merely on the angles, and in its lower 

 stature, with the main stem almost entirely occupied by the terminal spike. 



Type in Herb. British Museum : Ireland, Kerry, among heather on Mt. Carrantuohill, 

 August 22, 1883, H. N. Ridley. 



In every European flora which I have been able to consult, except those of Portugal, 

 the calyx of Pedicularis sylvatica is described as glabrous, and frequently this is used as 

 a key character to separate the species from P. palustris. This is, indeed, very natural, 

 for the curiously smooth and polished surface of the accrescent fruiting calyx is one of 

 the most conspicuous and characteristic features of normal P. sylvatica. In 1952 I 

 noticed, however, first in Kerry and later in Donegal, that a large proportion of the plants 

 in these regions stand out equally conspicuously (especially after mist or rain) by virtue 

 of a loose but fairly abundant indumentum of curled white hairs, which covers the 

 calyx, the pedicels, and indeed much of the upper part of the plant. 



A difference of this kind, confined apparently to a single character, would scarcely 

 be worth taxonomic recognition (any more than, say, albinism, which is not uncommon 

 in this species), were it not for the fact that the hairy forms occur only in a well-defined 

 geographical area. A search through the material at Kew, the British Museum, Oxford, 

 Cambridge, Dublin, Brussels and Madrid, showed that plants with a hairy calyx are 

 confined to the British Isles, Portugal, S. Spain, Morocco and Algeria. All hairy specimens 

 from the last four countries are, however, referable to P. lusitanica Hoffmanns. & Link,* 

 which is usually regarded now by Portuguese authors as a variety or subspecies of 

 P. sylvatica. In this plant the hairs on the calyx are confined to the angles, and there are 

 few or none on the pedicels; moreover it is taller, with an erect main stem usually 

 15-25 cm. high with several more or less elongated internodes below the inflorescence. 

 Nothing like this has been seen in the British Isles. 



Within the British Isles, it would appear that the hairy form is very nearly confined 

 to those areas of western Ireland in which blanket-bog is a prominent feature of the 

 landscape. In Kerry and West Cork, in Connemara and West Mayo, and in West 

 Donegal it is common and ubiquitous, and it occurs also, though over less extensive 

 areas, on the bogs or moorlands of Clare, Sligo and Fermanagh. The pattern of distri- 

 bution, shown on the accompanying map, is certainly incomplete, for only Co. Galway 

 has been at all systematically searched : it is almost certain that most of the gaps in 

 Kerry, West Cork, northwest Mayo and West Donegal can be filled, and it is probable 

 that there are a few stations still to be found further east - in mid Cork, E. Clare, Tyrone 

 and perhaps Derry and Antrim. Still, the general pattern is clear, and there is no doubt 



* A beautiful plate accompanies the original description in the Flore Porlusahe. 



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