Linnaea borealis
Linnaea borealis | |
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Linnaea borealis ssp. longiflora in flower, near the Matanuska Glacier in Alaska | |
Scientific classification | |
Kingdom: | Plantae |
Clade: | Tracheophytes |
Clade: | Angiosperms |
Clade: | Eudicots |
Clade: | Asterids |
Order: | Dipsacales |
Family: | Caprifoliaceae |
Genus: | Linnaea |
Species: | L. borealis
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Binomial name | |
Linnaea borealis L. | |
Varieties[2] | |
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Synonyms[2] | |
List
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Linnaea borealis is a
, commonly known as twinflower (sometimes written twin flower).This plant was a favourite of Carl Linnaeus, founder of the modern system of binomial nomenclature, after whom the genus was named.
Description
The
L. borealis is
Taxonomy
Linnaea borealis was first formally described by Carl Linnaeus in 1753 in Species Plantarum.[6] It was then the sole species in the genus Linnaea. The genus name had been used earlier by the Dutch botanist Jan Frederik Gronovius, and was given in honour of Linnaeus. Linnaeus adopted the name because Linnaea borealis was his favourite plant.[7]
Linnaea borealis is considered to be a single circumboreal species, with three generally recognized subspecies:
- Linnaea borealis subsp. borealis - Europe
- Linnaea borealis subsp. americana - North America (formerly classified as the species Linnaea americana)
- Linnaea borealis subsp. longiflora - Asia, and western North America (from Alaska to California)
The English name "twinflower" for Linnaea borealis refers to the plant's paired flowers.
Distribution and habitat
Linnaea borealis has a circumpolar distribution in moist subarctic, boreal, or cool temperate forests, extending further south at higher elevations in various mountains, in Europe south to the Alps, in Asia south to northern Japan, and in North America south to northern California and to Arizona and New Mexico in the west, and to West Virginia (and formerly Tennessee) in the Appalachian Mountains in the east.[8][9]
Clonal stands of Linnaea can be long-persisting, in some places remaining extant even if seed is not produced or if seedling germination or establishment does not occur.
The species was presumably common in areas south of its present range during times of
Conservation
While the three subspecies of L. borealis are all considered widespread, abundant, and secure in their main, northern ranges, all three subspecies are of conservation concern near the subspecies' range edges or at more southerly, disjunct sites.
In
In the United States, L. borealis ssp. americana is of conservation concern in several states along or near the southern edge of the species' range, including Arizona, Iowa, Massachusetts, North Dakota, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia, and was known historically but now considered extirpated or possibly so in Illinois, Indiana, New Jersey, Ohio, Rhode Island, and Tennessee.
In Canada, Linnaea borealis ssp. longiflora is considered of conservation significance in the Yukon Territory, along the eastern edge of its range, where ssp. americana is widespread and abundant.
Since many of the outlying southern sites for Linnaea borealis are in habitats that are at high elevations or otherwise in cooler
In culture
Linnaeus took L. borealis as his own personal symbol when he was raised to the Swedish nobility in 1757. In his Critica Botanica (1737), Linnaeus had used Gronovius's name Linnaea as an example to advocate the use of commemorative personal names as botanical names:
it is commonly believed that the name of a plant which is derived from that of a botanist shows no connection between the two...[but]...Linnaea was named by the celebrated Gronovius and is a plant of Lapland, lowly, insignificant, disregarded, flowering but for a brief space — after Linnaeus who resembles it.[10][11]
The flower of Linnaea borealis is the provincial flower of Småland,[12] the home province of Linnaeus.
References
- ^ NatureServe (2024). "Linnaea borealis". Arlington, Virginia. Retrieved 2024-01-12.
- ^ a b "Linnaea borealis L." Plants of the World Online. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Retrieved 2024-01-12.
- ^ Klinkenberg, Brian, ed. (2014). "Linnaea borealis". E-Flora BC: Electronic Atlas of the Plants of British Columbia [eflora.bc.ca]. Lab for Advanced Spatial Analysis, Department of Geography, University of British Columbia, Vancouver. Retrieved 2015-01-24.
- ^ Giblin, David, ed. (2015). "Linnaea borealis". WTU Herbarium Image Collection. Burke Museum, University of Washington. Retrieved 2015-01-24.
- ^ PMID 19181748.
- ^ "Linnaea borealis L." International Plant Names Index (IPNI). Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew; Harvard University Herbaria & Libraries; Australian National Botanic Gardens. Retrieved 2018-01-22.
- .
- ^ Sullivan, Steven. K. (2015). "Linnaea borealis". Wildflower Search. Retrieved 2015-01-24.
- ^ USDA, NRCS (n.d.). "Linnaea borealis". The PLANTS Database (plants.usda.gov). Greensboro, North Carolina: National Plant Data Team. Retrieved 2015-01-24.
- ISBN 90-6046-064-2. p. 83.
- ^ Core, Earl L. (1975), The Wondrous Year: West Virginia Through the Seasons, Grantsville, West Virginia: Seneca Books, pg 45.
- ^ Visit Småland Archived 2012-09-18 at archive.today Retrieved 25 February 2012.
- The Linnaeus Link Project in the spring 2005 edition of Nature First, the magazine for Natural History Museum members.
- Species and habitat conservation from Plantlife.org.uk [1] and [2]
- Twinflower species profile [3]
External links
- Media related to Linnaea borealis at Wikimedia Commons