Anthoxanthum alpinum A. and D. Löve, New to the British Isles

Abstract

A GRASS, referable to Anthoxanthum alpinum A. and D. Löve, has been collected from a snow patch in the Cairngorms near the Invernesshire–Aberdeenshire border. This species was described in 1948¹ from Swedish Lappland on the basis of a few morphological characters which distinguish it from the widespread Anthoxanthum odoratum L. because it also differed from that tetraploid species (2n = 20) in being a diploid (2n=10)². It has an arctic-alpine type of distribution in northern Europe from Iceland to Finland and in the Swiss Alps. Tutin³ confirmed the diploid chromosome number in Swiss material and gave further morphological criteria for the separation of these species. He also suggested that Anthoxanthum alpinum might occur in the British Isles as it is readily confused with the widespread A. odoratum.