Flora of the Yukon Territory

689 Pages·2000·27.862 MB·English

by  William J. Cody

Y FLORA of the
UKON TERRITORY
SECOND EDITION

A Publicationof the
National Research CouncilofCanada
MonographPublishingProgram
Y
FLORA of the
UKON TERRITORY
SECOND EDITION
William J. Cody
Eastern Cereal and Oilseed Research Centre
Research Branch
Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada
Ottawa, Ontario
NRC RESEARCH PRESS
Ottawa 2000
NRCMonograph Publishing Program
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ISBN0-660-18110-X
NRCC No. 43257
First edition 1996
CanadianCataloguinginPublication Data
Cody, William J.,1922–
Floraof theYukonTerritory– Second edition
Includes anabstractin French.
Includes addendum, bibliographicalreferences, and index.
Issuedby the NationalResearchCouncilof Canada
ISBN0-660-18110-X
1. Botany— YukonTerritory.
I.NationalReseachCouncil Canada.II. Title
QK203.Y8C622000 581.9719’1 C00-980117-0
Correct citationforthis publication: Cody, W.J. 2000.Floraof theYukonTerritory–
SecondEdition.NRCResearchPress,Ottawa, Ontario,Canada.
Agriculture andAgri-FoodCanadaStaffEditor:JaneT.Buckley
Agriculture andAgri-FoodCanadaStaffDesigner:Marcel Jomphe
v
CONTENTS
PREFACE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . vii
ABSTRACT/RÉSUMÉ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ix
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xi
INTRODUCTION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
Physicaldescription . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
Vegetation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
SummaryofvascularplantsintheYukonflora . . 4
Historyofcollecting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
Keystomajordivisionsandfamilies . . . . . . . 12
FLORAOFTHEYUKONTERRITORY
LYCOPODIACEAEclub-mossfamily . . . . . . . 21
SELAGINELLACEAEspike-mossfamily . . . . . 25
ISOETACEAEquillwortfamily . . . . . . . . . . . 26
EQUISETACEAEhorsetailfamily . . . . . . . . . 27
OPHIOGLOSSACEAEadder’s-tonguefamily . . 32
PTERIDACEAE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
ASPIDIACEAE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
ASPLENIACEAE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45
POLYPODIACEAE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46
CUPRESSACEAEcypressfamily . . . . . . . . . . 47
PINACEAEpinefamily . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48
TYPHACEAEcattailfamily . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51
SPARGANIACEAEbur-reedfamily . . . . . . . . 52
POTAMOGETONACEAEpondweedfamily . . . 54
SCHEUCHZERIACEAEarrow-grassfamily . . . 61
ALISMATACEAE(ALISMACEAE)waterplantain
family . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63
POACEAE(GRAMINEAE)grassfamily . . . . . . 64
CYPERACEAEsedgefamily . . . . . . . . . . . . 131
ARACEAEarumfamily . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 183
LEMNACEAEduckweedfamily . . . . . . . . . . 184
JUNCACEAErushfamily . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 185
LILIACEAElilyfamily. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 196
IRIDACEAEirisfamily . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 202
ORCHIDACEAEorchidfamily . . . . . . . . . . . 203
SALICACEAEwillowfamily . . . . . . . . . . . . 212
MYRICACEAEwax-myrtlefamily . . . . . . . . . 235
BETULACEAEbirchfamily . . . . . . . . . . . . . 236
URTICACEAEnettlefamily . . . . . . . . . . . . 240
SANTALACEAEsandalwoodfamily . . . . . . . 242
POLYGONACEAEbuckwheatfamily . . . . . . . 243
CHENOPODIACEAEgoosefootfamily . . . . . . 253
PORTULACACEAEpurslanefamily . . . . . . . 260
CARYOPHYLLACEAEpinkfamily . . . . . . . . 263
CERATOPHYLLACEAEhornwortfamily . . . . 285
NYMPHAEACEAEwater-lilyfamily . . . . . . . 286
RANUNCULACEAEcrowfootfamily . . . . . . . 288
PAPAVERACEAEpoppyfamily . . . . . . . . . . 308
FUMARIACEAEfumitoryfamily . . . . . . . . . 312
vi CONTENTS
BRASSICACEAE(CRUCIFERAE)mustardfamily 314
DROSERACEAEsundewfamily . . . . . . . . . . 361
CRASSULACEAEstonecropfamily . . . . . . . . 362
SAXIFRAGACEAEsaxifragefamily . . . . . . . . 363
ROSACEAErosefamily . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 380
FABACEAE(LEGUMINOSAE)peafamily . . . . 405
GERANIACEAEgeraniumfamily . . . . . . . . . 427
LINACEAEflaxfamily . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 429
EUPHORBIACEAEspurgefamily . . . . . . . . . 430
CALLITRICHACEAEwaterstarwortfamily . . . 431
EMPETRACEAEcrowberryfamily . . . . . . . . 433
BALSAMINACEAEtouch-me-notfamily . . . . . 434
ELATINACEAEwaterwortfamily . . . . . . . . . 435
VIOLACEAEvioletfamily . . . . . . . . . . . . . 436
ELAEAGNACEAEoleasterfamily . . . . . . . . . 440
ONAGRACEAEeveningprimrosefamily . . . . 441
HIPPURIDACEAEmare’s-tailfamily . . . . . . . 446
HALORAGACEAEwater-milfoilfamily. . . . . . 448
ARALIACEAEginsengfamily . . . . . . . . . . . 449
APIACEAE(UMBELLIFERAE)parsleyfamily . . 450
CORNACEAEdogwoodfamily . . . . . . . . . . 456
PYROLACEAEwintergreenfamily . . . . . . . . 458
ERICACEAEheathfamily . . . . . . . . . . . . . 462
DIAPENSIACEAEdiapensiafamily . . . . . . . . 472
PRIMULACEAEprimrosefamily . . . . . . . . . 473
PLUMBAGINACEAEleadwortfamily . . . . . . 482
GENTIANACEAEgentianfamily . . . . . . . . . 483
MENYANTHACEAEbuckbeanfamily . . . . . . 488
APOCYNACEAEdogbanefamily . . . . . . . . . 489
POLEMONIACEAEphloxfamily . . . . . . . . . 490
HYDROPHYLLACEAEwaterleaffamily . . . . . 494
BORAGINACEAEboragefamily . . . . . . . . . 495
LAMIACEAE(LABIATAE)mintfamily . . . . . . 502
SCROPHULARIACEAEfigwortfamily . . . . . . 505
OROBANCHACEAEbroom-rapefamily . . . . . 521
LENTIBULARIACEAEbladderwortfamily . . . . 522
PLANTAGINACEAEplantainfamily . . . . . . . 525
RUBIACEAEmadderfamily . . . . . . . . . . . . 527
CAPRIFOLIACEAEhoneysucklefamily . . . . . 529
ADOXACEAEmoschatelfamily . . . . . . . . . . 532
VALERIANACEAEvalerianfamily . . . . . . . . 533
CAMPANULACEAEbluebellfamily . . . . . . . 535
LOBELIACEAElobeliafamily . . . . . . . . . . . 537
ASTERACEAE(COMPOSITAE)family . . . . . . 538
ADDENDUM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 605
GLOSSARY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 629
BIBLIOGRAPHY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 641
INDEX . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 651
vii
PREFACE ThediscoveryofgoldinBonanzaCreeknearDawsonin
1896 created the “gold rush,” which brought to the
Yukon Territory worldwide attention and a tremendous
invasion of individuals seekingwealth.Somewho failedto
discover gold tried to cover their expenses, atleastin part,
bycollectingplantspecimensforsale.Others,intriguedby
thebeautifulplantsofthisnorthernregion,begancollecting
specimens. Even before this time Arthur Krause (Bremen
Geographical Society), George M. Dawson and W. Ogilvie
(CanadianGeologicalSurvey),FrederickFunston(U.S.De-
partment of Agriculture), Martin W. Gorman (resident of
southeast Alaska),andJohnJ.McLean(U.S.SignalService)
had collected specimens as they traveled through the Ter-
ritory.
Later, besides casual collecting by private individuals
andthosewhopickedupspecimensduringtheirgeological
and other surveys, various professionals began studies re-
latedtothevegetationoftheYukonTerritory.Amongthese
were Erling Porsild (National Museum of Canada) who
workedalongtheCanolRoadin1944;JimCalderandJack
Gillett (Division of Botany and Plant Pathology, Canada
Department of Agriculture) who in 1949 worked in the
vicinitiesofDawsonandWatsonLake,respectively;Stanley
L.Welsh (BrighamYoungUniversity)whoin 1970worked
north of the Old Crow Flats; David Murray (University of
Colorado) who from 1965 to 1971 worked in the St. Elias
Mountains; and George Douglas (Douglas EcologicalCon-
sultants)whofrom1973to1977workedinKluaneNational
Park. In recent years also, Catherine Kennedy, Valerie
Loewen,andothersintheYukonDepartmentofRenewable
Resourceshavemadevaluablecontributionsresultingfrom
theirstudies ofthevegetationinmany,oftenremote,areas
oftheTerritory.
Ascollectorsgatheredmorespecimensforstudy,numer-
ousnew taxa thatwere endemic to theunglaciatedregions
oftheYukonTerritoryweredescribedandknowndistribu-
tions of many taxa were extended. The first flora to cover
the Territory was that of Eric Hultén (1941–1950), Flora of
Alaska and Yukon. This book contained keys, distribution
maps,andmuchusefulinformationbutnospecies,generic,
orfamilydescriptions.In1959cameJacobPeterAnderson’s
FloraofAlaskaandadjacentpartsofCanada. This quiteconser-
vative treatment contained descriptions. In 1968, Hultén
published Flora of Alaska and neighboring territories, a tre-
mendous volume with keys, descriptions, line drawings,
and worldwide and Alaska–Yukon distribution maps. In
viii PREFACE
1974,StanleyWelshpublishedagreat expansion of Ander-
son’sflorabutwasstillquiteconservativeinhistreatment.
Inadditiontothesefloras,twomostusefulbooksonthe
ecologyoftheYukonTerritoryhavebeenpublished.They
arebyOswaldandSenyk(1977)EcoregionsofYukonTerritory
and by Wiken et al. (1981) The northern Yukon: an ecological
landsurvey.
My interest in Canada’s northern flora began in 1948
when I went to Coral Harbor, Southampton Island, at the
northern end of Hudson Bay to study biting-fly habitats.
This work was partof a joint project with the Entomology
Division,CanadaDepartmentofAgriculture,andwasdone
in cooperation with the Defence Research Board, Canada
Department of National Defence. These studies continued
through thenext 7 years at Yellowknife in 1949,Fort Smith
in 1950, centralAlaska in 1951, Norman Wells in 1953,and
Fort Simpson in 1955. In 1957 and again in 1963, I studied
the terrain of the Reindeer Grazing Preserve east of the
Mackenzie Delta, to ascertain what changes might have
taken placeinthevegetationfollowing theintroduction of
reindeer to the area. In 1961, I conducted studies of the
vegetation adjacentto theLiard Riverfrom the BritishCo-
lumbia border downstream to Fort Simpson, and again in
1965 I engaged in similar studies along the Slave River be-
tween Fort Smith and Great Slave Lake. In 1966 I studied
thevegetationinthatpartoftheDistrictofMackenzieeast
oftheSlaveRiverbetweenthe60thparallelandGreatSlave
Lake.In 1970,1971,and1972,Itookpartinfieldstudiesin
the Mackenzie Mountains and various other localities in
southernDistrictofMackenzie to assesssitesthathadbeen
recommendedforpreservationintheInternationalBiologi-
cal Program Conservation of Terrestrial Habitats (IBP/CT)
project.Alsoin1971,IwasamemberoftheNorthernRoads
TaskForce,whichexaminedtheimpactofroad-buildingon
terrainandvegetationinpartsofnorthernCanada.
In1965,IjoinedErlingPorsild,ChiefBotanist,National
Herbarium,NationalMuseumofCanada,andlaterCurator
Emeritus,tobeginthewritingofVascularplantsofcontinental
Northwest Territories, Canada. After completing the Plants of
Riding Mountain National Park and much of the writing of
Ferns and fern allies of Canada coauthored with Donald Brit-
ton,myinterestturnedagaintoCanada’snorth.
Myfieldworkinthe YukonTerritory extended through
thesummersof1980to1984.Theresulthasbeenthewriting
oftheFloraoftheYukonTerritory.
ix
ABSTRACT This flora contains treatments of 1112 species represent-
ing80familiesofvascularplantsthathavebeenfound
intheYukonTerritory.Alsoincludedarespeciesthatoccur
nearbyandmaybefoundintheTerritoryinthefuture.
The introduction describes briefly the Yukon Territory
and its geology and vegetation, lists the families, outlines
the history of botanical collecting, and cites the many
sources. Descriptions and keys provide information on
families, genera, species, subspecies, and varieties. Spe-
ciesaccountsincluderelevantsynonomy,descriptions,habi-
tat information, and distribution (both worldwide and
territorial) as well as occasional comments. All species are
illustrated,anddotmapsdepictknowndistributionswithin
theYukon Territory.A glossaryandbibliography complete
thebook.
RÉSUMÉ Cettefloretraitede1112espècesdeplantesvasculaires
qui ont été recueillies au Yukon et appartenant à 80
familles.Onytraiteégalementd’espècesrépertoriéesprès
du Yukon et qu’on pourrait retrouver sur ce territoire à
l’avenir.
L’introduction décrit brièvement le Yukon, sa géolo-
gie, sa végétation, dresse la liste des familles, esquisse
l’histoire de la collecte botanique et on y cite les nom-
breusessourcesquiontpermisderédigercetouvrage.Les
descriptions et les tableaux d’identification donnent des
renseignementssurlesfamilles,lesgenres,lesespèces,les
sous-espèces et les variétés. Le texte consacré à chaque
espèce comprend une synonymie, des descriptions, de
l’informationsurl’habitatetlarépartitiondel’espèce(dans
le monde et sur le territoire), ainsi qu’un certain nombre
decommentairesoccasionnels.Pourchaqueespèce,ilya
une illustration et une carte qui indique sa répartition
auYukon.Ontrouveraàlafindulivreunglossaireetune
biliographie.