Leymus mollis (Trin.) Pilg. subsp. mollis

Gillespie, Lynn J., Saarela, Jeffery M., Sokoloff, Paul C. & Bull, Roger D., 2015, New vascular plant records for the Canadian Arctic Archipelago, PhytoKeys 52, pp. 23-79 : 38

Leymus mollis (Trin.) Pilg. subsp. mollis

Common name.

Sea lyme-grass, American dune grass

Distribution.

Amphi-Pacific-North America

Comments.

Two subspecies of Leymus mollis are recognized in North America: subsp. mollis and subsp. villosissimus (Scribn.) Á. Löve & D. Löve ( Bowden 1957, Barkworth 2007, Elven et al. 2011). Leymus mollis subsp. villosissimus is an Arctic taxon, distributed from Siberia to Greenland, and common in the low CAA, while subsp. mollis grows along the east and west coasts of North America, along the Arctic coast of Quebec, in some interior locations (Great Slave Lake, for example) and in Greenland ( Bowden 1957, Aiken et al. 2007, Barkworth 2007). Subspecies mollis has not previously been reported from the CAA ( Bowden 1957, Aiken et al. 2007) and our collection from southern Baffin Island is thus the first record for the region. The collection was made on the outer sandy floodplains of Soper Lake, where the species was uncommon; subspecies villosissimus was more common in the region.

Specimens examined.

Canada. Nunavut: Qikiqtaaluk Region, Baffin Island, Katannilik Territorial Park Reserve, Soper Falls, south side of Soper Lake, just southeast of Soper Falls, 17 July 2012, 62°54"08'N, 69°50"42'W, 6 m, Saarela, Gillespie, Sokoloff & Bull 2529 (CAN-601371).