Oxytropis deflexa subsp. foliolosa (Hook.) Cody

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 : 48

Oxytropis deflexa subsp. foliolosa (Hook.) Cody Fig. 14

Common name.

Pendant-pod oxytrope, pendant-pod locoweed

Distribution.

Arctic-alpine North America

Comments.

This is the first record of this taxon from the western CAA-the only populations known on the islands previously occur on southeastern Baffin Island near Kimmirut, Iqaluit, and on the Hall Peninsula ( Aiken et al. 2007), and we made four additional collections in Katannilik Territorial Park on southern Baffin Island. On the mainland Arctic, this taxon has been collected in the vicinity of Coronation Gulf south of Victoria Island (67°45'N, 111°57'W) ( Macoun and Holm 1921). Subspecies foliolosa is common in the boreal forest of Yukon and Alaska, extends south along the Rocky Mountains to Colorado, and occurs along the coast in northern Ontario and Quebec ( Welsh 1974, Porsild and Cody 1980, Blondeau and Cayouette 2002). A collection (Baldwin 1997, CAN-203476) from the vicinity of Longstaff Bluff (68°58'N, 47°57'W) on the west coast of Baffin Island is included in the range map for this species in Porsild (1957). However, Porsild re-identified this collection to Astragalus alpinus L. in 1959 (a determination with which we agree) and, while the dot on the map is erroneously reproduced in Porsild and Cody (1980), it is correctly omitted from the map in Aiken et al. (2007). We encountered only one small population on Victoria Island, consisting of six individuals growing on a rocky river flat at the edge of a low thicket of Salix alaxensis (Andersson) Coville, associated with Chamerion latifolium , Astragalus alpinus , Castilleja elegans Malte and Saxifraga tricuspidata Rottb. This collection extends the range of this species north by approximately 300 kilometers from Coronation Gulf, where J. Cox collected it during the Canadian Arctic Expedition 1913-1918 ( Macoun and Holm 1921, Polunin 1940).

Isely (1998) synonymized this taxon (as var. foliolosa (Hook.) Barneby) under var. deflexa , but did so only taking into account material from continental United States, excluding Alaska. Here we follow Cody (1994) and Aiken et al. (2007) and recognize subsp. foliolosa as a discrete taxon in North America. In a pan-Arctic context, Elven et al. (2011) suggested that this taxon may be synonymous with the Russian Oxytropis deflexa subsp. dezhnevii (Jurtz.) Jurtz. Further work is needed to clarify the statuses of these taxa, but the Russian name would have priority if these taxa were synonymized.

Specimens examined.

Canada. Northwest Territories: Inuvik Region, Victoria Island, River valley at N head of Minto Inlet, ca. 3 km from inlet, 71°33'46.7"N, 115°22'45.1"W, 24 m, 23 July 2010, Gillespie, Saarela, Doubt, Bull & Sokoloff 10129 (CAN-598345). Nunavut: Qikiqtaaluk Region, Baffin Island, Katannilik Territorial Park Reserve, Soper River, west side, ca. 44.5 km south of Mount Joy along river, ca. 17 km south of confluence with Livingstone River, 62°57'51"N, 69°47'53"W, 33 m, Saarela, Gillespie, Sokoloff & Bull 2504 (ALA, ALTA, CAN-601898, MO, NFM, UTC, UTU, US, UVIC, WIN); Qikiqtaaluk Region, Baffin Island, Katannilik Territorial Park Reserve, Soper Falls, south side of Soper Lake, just southeast of Soper Falls, 62°54'8"N, 69°50'42"W, 6 m, 17 July 2012, Saarela, Gillespie, Sokoloff & Bull 2530 (ALA, CAN-601901); Qikiqtaaluk Region, Baffin Island, Kimmirut, north end of Fundo Lake below Taqaiqsirvik Territorial Park, 62°50'50"N, 69°53'40"W, 35 m, 20 July 2012, Saarela, Gillespie, Sokoloff & Bull 2658 (CAN-601900); Qikiqtaaluk Region, Baffin Island, Pleasant Inlet, ca. 10 km south of Reversing Falls at end of Soper Lake, west of Kimmirut, west side of inlet 62°47'22"N, 69°59'51"W, 10-25 m, 21 July 2012, Saarela, Gillespie, Sokoloff & Bull 2714 (ALA, CAN-601899, MT, O, UBC).