Circaea × intermedia in eastern North America with particular reference to Ontario

Abstract

Circaea × intermedia Ehrh. in North America is an interspecific hybrid between C. alpina L. and C. lutetiana L. subsp. canadensis Aschers. & Magnus. In spite of the morphological differences that exist between the European and North American subspecies of C. lutetiana, hybrids from both continents are morphologically identical. Documentation of the intermediacy of the hybrid taxon is presented based on the evaluation of the means of 22 characters of specimens from an Ontario locality at which all three taxa are found.Diploid chromosome counts of 2n = 22 are reported for Ontario populations of the hybrid and parental species. The presence of irregular, somatic chromosome numbers are also reported for all three taxa.Distribution maps for all three taxa in eastern North America are included. In the case of C. lutetiana subsp. canadensis, the northern range is sharply delimited by the Precambrian–Paleozoic bedrock boundary.A table of character comparisons and a key to the three taxa summarizes the salient characteristics of the hybrid and the parental species in eastern North America.