Stellaria longipes subsp. longipes

Common names: Goldie’s starwort
Illustrated
Synonyms: Alsine palmeri Rydberg Alsine strictiflora Rydberg Alsine validus Goodding Stellaria arctica Schischkin Stellaria ciliatosepala Trautvetter Stellaria crassipes Hultén Stellaria dulcis Gervais Stellaria edwardsii R. Brown Stellaria edwardsii var. arctica (Schischkin) Hultén Stellaria edwardsii var. crassipes (Hultén) B. Boivin Stellaria hultenii Fischer Stellaria laeta Muhlenberg ex Willdenow Stellaria laeta var. altocaulis (Hultén) B. Boivin Stellaria laxmannii (Rydberg) Tidestrom Stellaria longifolia var. laeta (Richardson) S. Watson Stellaria longipes var. altocaulis (Hultén) C. L. Hitchcock Stellaria longipes var. edwardsii (R. Brown) A. Gray Stellaria longipes var. laeta (Richardson) S. Watson Stellaria longipes var. minor Hooker Stellaria longipes subsp. monantha (Richardson) W. A. Weber Stellaria longipes var. monantha (Hultén) S. L. Welsh Stellaria longipes subsp. stricta Hultén Stellaria longipes var. subvestita (Greene) Polunin Stellaria monantha Stellaria monantha var. altocaulis Hultén Stellaria monantha subsp. atlantica Stellaria monantha var. atlantica (Hultén) B. Boivin Stellaria palmeri Stellaria stricta Stellaria subvestita Stellaria valida
Treatment appears in FNA Volume 5. Treatment on page 108. Mentioned on page 109.

Plants usually forming clumps, cushions, or mats, but sometimes with diffuse, straggling stems. Leaf blades linear-lanceolate to ovate-triangular. Capsules purplish black. 2n = 52–107, mostly 52, 78, or 104.


Phenology: Flowering late spring–summer.
Habitat: Grassy places along streams, moist gravel or sand, arctic and alpine tundra, among rocks, on cliffs
Elevation: 0-3800 m

Distribution

V5 225-distribution-map.gif

Greenland, Alta., B.C., Man., N.B., Nfld. and Labr., N.W.T., Nunavut, Ont., Que., Sask., Yukon, Alaska, Ariz., Calif., Colo., Idaho, Mich., Minn., Mont., N.Mex., N.Y., N.Dak., Oreg., S.Dak., Utah, Wash., Wyo., Europe, Asia.

Discussion

Subspecies longipes, as shown by the above synonymy, is an exceptionally variable polyploid complex. Variation in this circumboreal, circumpolar taxon is under both genic and environmental control. Character states that are under genic control, such as pubescence, are scattered more or less at random throughout the range of distribution of the complex, and there is little discernible correlation among them, or with chromosome number or environment. All populations that have been studied are interfertile, and most show a high degree of phenotypic plasticity, being affected by such environmental conditions as temperature, day length, and shade. Most populations are self-compatible, although pollination by small insects, mainly flies, is the norm. Vegetative reproduction through fragmentation of the rhizome is also common. Hence, the complex consists of a large number of interfertile but more or less self-perpetuating, highly plastic biotypes.

A presumed hybrid between Stellaria longipes and S. borealis has been collected in the La Sal Mountains of Utah, although attempts to cross the two species experimentally were unsuccessful. Hybrids between S. longipes and S. longifolia occasionally occur and have been produced artificially (C. C. Chinnappa 1985); they are sterile triploids (2n = 39).

Selected References

None.

Lower Taxa

None.
John K. Morton +
Goldie +
Goldie’s starwort +
Greenland +, Alta. +, B.C. +, Man. +, N.B. +, Nfld. and Labr. +, N.W.T. +, Nunavut +, Ont. +, Que. +, Sask. +, Yukon +, Alaska +, Ariz. +, Calif. +, Colo. +, Idaho +, Mich. +, Minn. +, Mont. +, N.Mex. +, N.Y. +, N.Dak. +, Oreg. +, S.Dak. +, Utah +, Wash. +, Wyo. +, Europe +  and Asia. +
0-3800 m +
Grassy places along streams, moist gravel or sand, arctic and alpine tundra, among rocks, on cliffs +
Flowering late spring–summer. +
Edinburgh Philos. J. +
Illustrated +
Alsine palmeri +, Alsine strictiflora +, Alsine validus +, Stellaria arctica +, Stellaria ciliatosepala +, Stellaria crassipes +, Stellaria dulcis +, Stellaria edwardsii +, Stellaria edwardsii var. arctica +, Stellaria edwardsii var. crassipes +, Stellaria hultenii +, Stellaria laeta +, Stellaria laeta var. altocaulis +, Stellaria laxmannii +, Stellaria longifolia var. laeta +, Stellaria longipes var. altocaulis +, Stellaria longipes var. edwardsii +, Stellaria longipes var. laeta +, Stellaria longipes var. minor +, Stellaria longipes subsp. monantha +, Stellaria longipes var. monantha +, Stellaria longipes subsp. stricta +, Stellaria longipes var. subvestita +, Stellaria monantha +, Stellaria monantha var. altocaulis +, Stellaria monantha subsp. atlantica +, Stellaria monantha var. atlantica +, Stellaria palmeri +, Stellaria stricta +, Stellaria subvestita +  and Stellaria valida +
Stellaria longipes subsp. longipes +
Stellaria longipes +
subspecies +