The Genus Armeria in North America

Abstract

Armeria (Plumbaginaceae) has been subject to various taxonomic and nomenclatorial interpretations and this is true especially of the N. American representatives. The present paper interprets the 6 nomen-clatorial elements indigenous in North America to be vars. of the European A. maritima (Mill.) Willd. Evidence is presented to establish: (1) the priority of the name A. maritima over the more commonly used binomial A. vulgaris; (2) the fallibility of calyx-tube vesture as a critical character for delineation of sects. and subsects.; and (3) the conspecific character of the N. American representatives with those of the Old World. The study is an elaboration, for plants of the area treated, of an earlier preliminary treatment of the genus published by the author (Gentes Herbarum 4: 390-418, 1940) and is based on a study of about 4500 herbarium specimens which, for the most part, are cited in the paper. A key is provided to the 6 vars. of A. maritima and a map indicating their distr. is included. No new names or combinations are made in the paper.