Geographical differentiation of Rumex longifolius

• Published in: Nordic Journal of Botany
• Main Authors: Holm, Christa, Korpelainen, Helena
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Wiley 1999
• Subjects: Plant Science; Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics; Fennoscandia; Fennoscandian; Iceland
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1756-1051.1999.tb01898.x; https://api.wiley.com/onlinelibrary/tdm/v1/articles/10.1111%2Fj.1756-1051.1999.tb01898.x; https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/j.1756-1051.1999.tb01898.x

Based on controlled growth experiments, the shape of leaves in Rumex longifolius changes along a gradient ranging from northwestern to southeastern Fennoscandia. The northern plants have broader leaves than do plants from more southern areas. The pattern of leaf margins is associated with the shape, broad leaves having less wrinkled margins. The inflorescence height follows a north‐south gradient. The plants from southern Europe, Denmark and Iceland resemble northern Fennoscandian plants, while the Canadian plants possess intermediate morphology and the Russian plants resemble the plants from southeastern and central Fennoscandia. Genetic differentiation was examined using RAPD markers. The mean genetic similarities calculated between populations and between individuals within populations equalled 0.833 and 0.898, respectively. The clustering analysis showed that the genetic features of R. longifolius populations do not display comparable geographical differentiation as do the morphological variables.