Hybridization of Pyrola chlorantha (Ericaceae) in North America

• Published in: Canadian Journal of Botany
• Main Author: Haber, Erich
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: French
• Published: Canadian Science Publishing 1988
• Subjects: Plant Science; Northwest Territories; Great Bear River
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.1139/b88-272; http://www.nrcresearchpress.com/doi/pdf/10.1139/b88-272

A distinctive hybrid between P. chlorantha and P. minor is reported from specimens collected by John Richardson at Great Bear River, Northwest Territories, during the second voyage of the Franklin Expedition to British Northwest America. The intermediacy of some collections of P. chlorantha and P. picta and the presence of floral and pollen abnormalities are interpreted as evidence of hybridization between these morphologically similar species. Pollen tetrad diameters and two-dimensional paper chromatographic patterns of leaf flavonols serve as useful criteria in characterizing these two species.