Allozyme and morphological observations on Festuca hyperborea, compared with F. baffinensis and F. brachyphylia (Poaceae) from the Canadian Arctic

Abstract

Phenotypic plasticity in the size of leaf cross sections and in the visibility of trichomes on the leaf abaxial surface for a plant of Festuca hyperborea grown in different microhabitats is illustrated. Isozyme analyses indicate that tetraploid F. hyperborea from the Canadian Arctic is not likely a variant of tetraploid F. baffinensis and probably not a recent ancestor of the hexaploid F. brachyphylia. Although 10 populations were collected in the Canadian Arctic Archipelago as morphologically intermediate between Festuca species, with F. hyperborea considered a possible parent, no isozyme evidence suggested that this species hybridizes with either F. baffinensis or F. brachyphylia. Within plants sampled as F. hyperborea, 12 isozymatically distinct plants and one hybrid plant between this group and F. hyperborea were found.