MONTIA FONTANA L.

• Main Author: S. M. Walters
• Other Authors: The Pennsylvania State University CiteSeerX Archives
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Subjects: Arctic; Fontana
• Online Access: http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/summary?doi=10.1.1.669.3849; http://archive.bsbi.org.uk/Wats3p1.pdf

The Linnean species Montia fontana has long been recognised as very variable, and many attempts have been made to subdivide the aggregate into smaller taxonomic units. The earliest attempts were rather naturally based on the more obvious type of variation in habit which was closely correlated with differences of habitat; thus Gmelin (1805) recognised two species, M. minor and M. rivularis, the former a small terrestrial plant with erect stems, the latter a more or less submerged or floating aquatic plant with long trailing stems. The less striking variation shown by the ripe seed was first recorded by Chamisso (1831), whose Montia lamprosperma of N. Temperate and Arctic Eurasia was distinguished by the possession of a smooth, shining seed, in contrast to the dull, tuberculate seed type common in Central and Southern Europe. In most later work, the seed-coat differences have been used in attempts to define the species within the aggregate, usually in association with the habit characters. Thus Ascherson & Graebner (1919) give three species in the aggregate: M. minor, annual, with dull, tuber-culate seed; M. lamprosperma, annual, but with looser growth, and shining seeds with very brittle coat; and M. rivularis, perennial, with shining, finely tuberculate seeds.