The Russian larch (Larix archangelica, Pinaceae) in the Kola Peninsula

A locality of the Russian larch (Larix archangelica) was discovered in 2015 in 2.8 km from the mouth of the Malaya Kumzhevaya River (Lapponia Ponojensis) during the expedition to the southeastern coast of the Kola Peninsula. This is the second occurrence of native larch in the Kola Peninsula, which is situated in ca. 100 km westwards from its continuous range in the northeastern part of European Russia. A possible origin of this locality is considered, and the locality is treated as a relic of the formerly wider distribution in the middle Holocene. The only larch tree in this lo-cality grows in a spruce-birch herb-rich forest on drained lands between a river bank and a swamp area. The tree is part of the plant community that is classified as association Aconito septentrionalis – Piceetum obovatae Zaugolnova & Morozova 2009, subassociation filipenduletosum ulmariae Zaugolnova & Morozova 2009 (Vaccinio – Piceetea Br.-Bl. in Br.-Bl., Siss. & Vlieger 1939). The conservation status of larch in Murmansk Region according to the IUCN criteria is assessed as Critically Endangere

Vascular Plant Herbarium at the Kandalaksha Strict Nature Reserve (KAND), Russia

Background The present-day demand for digital availability of distributional data in biodiversity studies requires a special effort in assembling and editing the data otherwise scattered in paper literature and herbarium collections, which can be poorly accessible or little understood to present-day users and especially automatic data processors. Our project on developing the information resource for the vascular plant flora of Murmansk Region, Russia, includes processing and making digitally available all the data on the taxonomy and distribution of this flora. So far, published distribution maps are limited to the old set in the Flora of Murmansk Region (published in 1953-1966) and the Red Data Book of Murmansk Region (ed. 2, published in 2014). These publications did not take into account the main part of the herbarium collections kept at the Kandalaksha Strict Nature Reserve, which are the basis for numerous local publications that appear scattered and, therefore, little accessible nowadays. New information We present a complete dataset of all holdings of vascular plants in the Herbarium of the Kandalaksha Strict Nature Reserve, totalling 10,218 specimens collected during 1947-2019, which are referable to 764 species and 19 subspecies. All specimens were georeferenced with the utmost precision available. This dataset offers a complete and dense coverage of the Nature Reserve's territory (islands and adjacent mainland coastal areas of the Barents and White Seas, Murmansk Region and Republic of Karelia, Russia); these data are little represented in herbarium collections elsewhere.Peer reviewe

An analysis of travel reports of the Finnish botanical expeditions to Russian Lapland (Murmansk Region and northern Karelia) in 1861 and 1863

Finnish botanical expeditions which were made to Russian Lapland (present-day Murmansk Region and northern Karelia, Russia) in 1861 and 1863 published travel reports with preliminary information including numerous floristic novelties and phytogeographical observations, but they have been overlooked in present-day studies. Two reports appeared in print, by Gustav Selin on the expedition made in 1861, and by Nils Isak Fellman on the expedition made in 1863. We analysed the records of vascular plant species published in these reports in order to trace and evaluate first records and localities of rare and legally protected species on the basis of herbarium vouchers kept at H. In spite of high self-claims, Selin actually only reported nine species new to present-day Murmansk Region and one species new to Republic of Karelia, and four species of vascular plants that are currently under legal protection in Murmansk Region, whereas Fellman reported 11 species new to Murmansk Region and five species new to Karelia, with 34 species under legal protection in Murmansk Region. First records of alien plants were seven species from Selin and four species from Fellman. These records brought the contemporary floristic knowledge in Russian Lapland to 504 species of native plants (50% of the current total) and 54 species of alien plants (11% of the current total). Fellman's report included the first phytogeographical observations from the Kola Peninsula, with the first botanical limits observed, and the first descriptions of key botanical territories which are currently under strict protection. This study contributes to botanical history, plant protection and management of plant invasions in Murmansk Region.Peer reviewe

Mobilisation of distributional data for vascular plants of Murmansk Region, Russia : Digital representation of the Flora of Murmansk Region

Background The present-day demand for digital availability of distributional data in biodiversity studies requires a special effort in assembling and editing the data otherwise scattered in paper literature and herbarium collections, which can be poorly accessible or little understood to present-day users and especially automatic data processors. Although the vascular plants of Murmansk Region (northern part of European Russia) are well studied and represented in publications, the accessibility of this knowledge is highly insufficient. The most widely known source is the Flora of Murmansk Region (published in 1953-1966), which remains in use because of its high original quality, detailed elaboration and completeness. We consider digitising this source to be of primary importance in biodiversity studies in the Arctic Region because of its point occurrence maps, which were based on the comprehensive inventory of contemporary herbarium collections. New information We have compiled a dataset based on 554 printed point occurrence maps of species distributions published in the Flora of Murmansk Region, which includes 25,555 records of georeferenced plant occurrences that belong to 1,073 species and 5 hybrids. The occurrences are ultimately based on herbarium specimens kept at KPABG and LE, which were collected during 1837-1965. We estimate that these specimens represent ca. 60% of the current global herbarium holdings originated from Murmansk Region; this means that the dataset gives a fair representation of the regional flora.Peer reviewe

Erigeron droebachiensis O. F. Muell., Fl. Dan. 5 (15): 4, tab. 874 1782

<p>6. Erigeron droebachiensis O.F. Müll., Fl. Dan. 5(15): 4, tab. 874 (1782)</p> <p>Erigeron acris droebachiensis - Erigeron acris var. droebachiensis (O.F. Müll.) Willd., Sp. Pl., ed. 3, 3(3): 1959 (1803) - Erigeron acris subsp. droebachiensis (O.F. Müll.) Mela, Lyhyk. Kasvioppi Kasvio, ed. 1: 66 (1877).</p> <p>Erigeron acris angustatus = Erigeron acris var. angustatus Hartm., Handb. Skand. Fl., ed. 1: 315 (1820) - Erigeron acris subsp. angustatus (Hartm.) Fr., Novit. Fl. Suec. Mant. III: 107 (1843) - Erigeron acris f. angustatus (Hartm.) Fr., Summa Veg. Skand. 1: 183 (1846). Type. [icon] Flora Danica, tab. 874 (1782) (lectotype designated here).</p> <p>Type.</p> <p> [icon] Flora Danica, tab. 874 (1782) (lectotype designated here). Fig. 9. Epitype (designated here): Norway. Ringerike, 05.07.1892, <i>J. Dyring</i> (H 1642568). Fig. 10.</p> <p>Description.</p> <p>Stems 30-70 cm tall, branched in the upper third, green or slightly purple-coloured, sparsely covered by numerous hairs 0.5-1 mm long in the basal third or nearly glabrous. Cauline leaves 12-20 under the synflorescence, sparse or slightly congested, gradually reduced towards the stem top, middle and lower ones covered by numerous hairs 0.3-0.8(1) mm long on both sides or along margins only. Synflorescence with rather short branches carrying few to several capitula, racemose in shape, branches glabrous or with solitary hairs 0.3-0.4 mm long. Phyllaries 5.5-6 mm long, slightly or moderately purple-coloured, outer and middle ones sparsely covered by hairs 0.5-1 mm long at base or on the basal half, innermost ones glabrous. Ray flowers pink. Pappus greyish-white.</p> <p>Flowers in July, fruits in August.</p> <p>Distribution in Murmansk Region.</p> <p>Apatity industrial area (Fig. 8B).</p> <p>Global distribution.</p> <p>Boreal and Hemiboreal zones of Fennoscandia and Eastern Europe, southern limit unknown.</p> <p>Nomenclatural note.</p> <p> The species name is derived from Drøbak, now a town in Viken County, Norway, which is the original locality of the species (Müller 1782). This derivation implied the Latinisation of this place name as “Droebachia”, from which “droebachiensis” is produced by analogy with e.g. “hafniensis” that was derived from “Hafnia”, i.e. Copenhagen (Stearn 1966). The species epithet “droebachiensis” is therefore grammatically correct and cannot be changed to “droebachensis” as used in PoWO (2023), which would imply a different Latinisation as “Droebachum”. No original herbarium collections of <i>Erigeron droebachiensis</i> have been traced in Denmark (Ryding, pers. comm.) and Norway (Salvesen, pers. comm.). The only extant original element on which the species name was based is the illustration published in the protologue (Müller 1782). We agree that the original plant described by Müller was a glabrous taxon with corymbose synflorescences occurring as native in Fennoscandia, which was recognised in a similar way by other modern researchers (Tzvelev 1994; Kurtto and Väre 1998). Tzvelev (2001) attempted to radically change the application of the name <i>E. droebachiensis</i>, which he suggested to apply to a hybrid between <i>E. acris</i> s.l. and <i>E. canadensis</i> L., otherwise known as <i>E. × huelsenii</i> Vatke (Seregin 2015b). This erroneous application affected some Russian collections and literature (Seregin 2005, 2010, 2015a) but gained no recognition elsewhere. Although we agree with Olander and Tyler (2017) that the original illustration of <i>E. droebachiensis</i> unambiguously represents the species, its identity is far from apparent to those who are not familiar with the <i>Erigeron acris</i> group in Scandinavia. This is evident by the gross misinterpretation of this illustration by Tzvelev (2001), and by the uncertainty expressed by Šída (1998). To avoid further doubts and debates, we formally designate the illustration as a lectotype of <i>E. droebachiensis</i>, and support this illustration by an epitype collected in Ringerike, a traditional district situated at the distance of 50 km from Drøbak. The epitype specimen is nearly glabrous, except for the basal part of stems and capitula, and also leaf margins. A larger plant of this specimen agrees with the original illustration in a branched paniculate synflorescence, long leaves and long-exserted ligules. A smaller plant attached to the same sheet agrees with the larger plant in the pubescence and represents its reduced variant with unbranched stems, shorter leaves and a raceme-like synflorescence. Erigeron acris var. angustatus Hartm. was described (Hartman 1820) without any original locality indicated in the protologue. One diagnostic character of this variety (small stalked flowering heads) indicated the racemose synflorescence; the second character (larger apical capitulum) was derived from the diagnosis of <i>E. droebachiensis</i>. Subsequently Hartman (1838) explicitly noted that this variety corresponds to <i>E. droebachiensis</i>, whose illustration (but not the name itself) was cited in the protologue, and we designate this illustration as the lectotype of Hartman’s variety. Fries (1843b) elevated this variety to the subspecies level, thus creating the earliest available name at this rank.</p> <p>Taxonomic note.</p> <p> The distribution of <i>Erigeron droebachiensis</i> outside Fennoscandia is partly obscured due to its common confusion with other taxa of the <i>E. acris</i> group. Šída (1998) presumed that this species may turn to be identical to <i>E. macrophyllus</i> Herbich, which occurs in Central and Southern Europe, although the latter is characterised by more numerous and dense cauline leaves, which are 20-45 in number (Tzvelev 1994; Šída 2001).</p>Published as part of <i>Sennikov, Alexander N. & Kozhin, Mikhail N., 2023, Taxonomic revision of the Erigeron acris group (Asteraceae) in Murmansk Region, Russia, reveals a complex pattern of native and alien taxa, pp. 83-128 in PhytoKeys 235</i> on page 83, DOI: 10.3897/phytokeys.235.11102

Erigeron rigidus Fr., Novit. Fl. Suec. Mant. III: 107 1843

<p>3. Erigeron rigidus Fr., Novit. Fl. Suec. Mant. III: 107 (1843)</p> <p>Fig. 6</p> <p>Erigeron acris rigidus - Erigeron acris var. rigidus (Fr.) A.Blytt, Norges Fl. 2: 562 (1874) - Erigeron politus subsp. rigidus (Fr.) Jørg. in Forh. Vidensk.-Selsk. Kristiania 1894(8): 27 (1894).</p> <p> Erigeron acris ruber = Erigeron acris var. ruber Hartm., Handb. Skand. Fl., ed. 1: 315 (1820). Type. Sweden. Lule lappmark, <i>S.N. Casström</i> (holotype S, not traced).</p> <p>Type.</p> <p> Norway. Filefjell: Nystuen, <i>M. Blytt</i> (lectotype UPS, designated here).</p> <p>Description.</p> <p>Stems 25-50 cm tall, branched in the upper third, intensely to slightly purple-coloured, evenly covered by numerous hairs 0.5-1 mm long. Cauline leaves 4-8(12) under the synflorescence, spaced, gradually decreasing towards the stem top, completely covered by numerous hairs 0.5-1 mm long on both sides but subglabrous at the base below. Synflorescence with long branches carrying solitary to 2-3 capitula, nearly corymbose at the top, with numerous hairs 0.4-0.7 mm long. Phyllaries 6-7.5 mm long, purple-coloured completely or in the apical part, rather densely covered by hairs up to 0.5-0.8 mm long. Ray flowers intensely lilac. Pappus greyish-white.</p> <p>Flowers in July to August, fruits in August.</p> <p>Distribution in Murmansk Region.</p> <p>Coastal area of the White Sea, road from Alakurtti to Salla and Vuorijarvi Village, isolated at Kirovsk Town, Zasheyek Village and Kola Town (Fig. 4C).</p> <p>Global distribution.</p> <p>Boreal zone of Fennoscandia and Eastern Europe, southern limit unknown.</p> <p>Nomenclature note.</p> <p> Fries (1843a) mentioned two areas from which his new species was described, Filefjeld in Norway and Norrland in Sweden. The Norwegian report was based on a single specimen collected by M. Blytt in Nystuen and cited in the protologue, which is a syntype. The basis for the Swedish part of the distribution area was not specified in the protologue but Fries indicated by an exclamation mark that he had seen some (otherwise uncited) material. The specimen collected by Blytt has been traced at UPS (Hjertson, pers. comm.) and is designated as lectotype here. Hartman (1820) described Erigeron acris var. ruber Hartm. from Swedish Lapland, which was briefly characterised by “dark-red” ligulate flowers. This character indicates that the plant was intensely purple-coloured; together with its occurrence in Lapland, this character unambiguously points at <i>E. rigidus</i>. Quite exceptionally in those times, the protologue of E. acris var. ruber Hartm. (Hartman 1820) included citation of a single specimen collected by Samuel Niclas Casström, which is apparently the holotype. The collections of Casström were bequeathed after his death to the Swedish Museum of Natural History (Lindman 1916), where the holotype should be currently kept (not traced).</p> <p>Taxonomic note.</p> <p> This species is most similar to <i>Erigeron acris</i> s.str., from which it differs in typically red stems and phyllaries, and in sparser and shorter pubescence on stems, leaves and phyllaries. Its distribution area remains unknown due to the ongoing confusion with <i>E. acris</i> s.str.; so far, we feel certain to state that <i>E. rigidus</i> is common in southern Finland and Karelia, together with <i>E. acris</i> s.str., but goes farther northwards than the latter species. In Central and Southern Europe there is another similar taxon, <i>E. muralis</i> Lapeyr. (= <i>E. serotinus</i> Weihe), which apparently differs in its habit and much denser foliage ((10)17-27(40) stem leaves in <i>E. muralis</i> vs. 4-8(12) stem leaves in <i>E. rigidus</i>) (Šída 2004). Besides, <i>E. rigidus</i> flowers together with <i>E. acris</i>, whereas the flowering of <i>E. muralis</i> occurs much later (Šída 2001)</p>Published as part of <i>Sennikov, Alexander N. & Kozhin, Mikhail N., 2023, Taxonomic revision of the Erigeron acris group (Asteraceae) in Murmansk Region, Russia, reveals a complex pattern of native and alien taxa, pp. 83-128 in PhytoKeys 235</i> on page 83, DOI: 10.3897/phytokeys.235.11102

Erigeron acris L., Sp. Pl. 2: 863 1753

<p>5. Erigeron acris L., Sp. Pl. 2: 863 (1753).</p> <p>Type.</p> <p>Probably southern Sweden. Herb. Linnaeus 994.16 (lectotype LINN, designated by Huber (1993: 44)).</p> <p>Description.</p> <p>Stems 25-40 cm tall, branched in the upper half, green or slightly to rather intensely purple-coloured, evenly covered by abundant hairs 1-1.3(1.5) mm long. Cauline leaves 5-10 under the synflorescence, spaced, gradually decreasing towards the stem top, completely covered by numerous hairs 0.5-1 mm long on both sides. Synflorescence with long branches carrying solitary to 2-3 capitula, nearly corymbose at the top, with numerous hairs 0.4-0.7(1) mm long. Phyllaries 6-7.5 mm long, green or purple-coloured on the tips, completely covered by hairs up to 0.7-1 mm long. Ray flowers pale-pink. Pappus greyish-white.</p> <p>Flowers in July to August, fruits in August.</p> <p>Distribution in Murmansk Region.</p> <p>Kandalaksha Town, Nivsky Village, Kandalaksha and Apatity industrial areas, Apatity Town, Pasvik, Tetrino Village (Fig. 8A).</p> <p>Global distribution.</p> <p>Boreal, Hemiboreal and Temperate zones of Europe and Siberia. Nomenclatural note. The lectotype specimen at LINN was not labelled but most likely was collected by C. Linnaeus himself in Uppsala, Sweden. This specimen is a very typical representative of the species, being a greenish plant with abundant long hairs.</p> <p>Taxonomic note.</p> <p> This species is characteristic for its overall green colour of stems, leaves and phyllaries, with a red tint being present mostly at the stem base and on the tips of the phyllaries. The plant habit is the same as in <i>E. politus</i> and <i>E. rigidus</i>, with rather few sparse leaves on the stem. Another typical feature of this species is a long and dense pubescence, covering all parts of the plant (stems, leaves and phyllaries).</p>Published as part of <i>Sennikov, Alexander N. & Kozhin, Mikhail N., 2023, Taxonomic revision of the Erigeron acris group (Asteraceae) in Murmansk Region, Russia, reveals a complex pattern of native and alien taxa, pp. 83-128 in PhytoKeys 235</i> on page 83, DOI: 10.3897/phytokeys.235.11102

Erigeron pilosiusculus Sennikov, sp. 2023, hybr. nov.

<p>2. Erigeron × pilosiusculus Sennikov, sp. hybr. nov.</p> <p>Fig. 5</p> <p>Type.</p> <p> Russia. Karelian Republic: Paanajärvi, Kauppila, torr mark nära gården [= in colle sicco], 29.07.1936, <i>H. Lindberg</i> [Plantae Finlandiae Exsiccatae no. 1369] (holotype H 039503 pro parte [plant 1]; isotypes H 339935 pro parte, OULU 059259).</p> <p>Description.</p> <p>Stems 25-50 cm tall, branched in the upper third, intensely to slightly purple-coloured, covered by sparse to numerous hairs 0.5-1 mm long mostly in the basal half. Cauline leaves 4-8 under the synflorescence, spaced, gradually decreasing towards the stem top, unevenly covered by sparse hairs 0.5-1 mm long on both sides. Synflorescence with long branches carrying solitary to 2-3 capitula, nearly corymbose at the top, branches subglabrous or with sparse hairs. Phyllaries 6-7.5 mm long, purple-coloured completely or near the apex, covered by sparse hairs in the basal part or up to the apex. Ray flowers dark-lilac to pale-pinkish. Pappus greyish-white.</p> <p> Flowers in July, fruits in July to August. As evident from the plants collected in mixed populations, the flowering and fruiting of the hybrid occur earlier than in its native parent, <i>Erigeron politus</i>. When plants of <i>E. politus</i> start to blossom, the hybrid is already in the last flowers. Distribution in Murmansk Region. Kandalaksha Gulf, Turii Mys, Varzuga River (lower course), Ponoi River (lower course) (Fig. 4B).</p> <p>Global distribution.</p> <p>Subarctic and Northern Boreal zones of Fennoscandia.</p> <p>Etymology.</p> <p> The species epithet, meaning 'slightly more hairy’ (<i>pilosior</i>, Lat.: more hairy; - <i>usculus</i>, Lat.: diminutive suffix), was selected to reflect a slighly greater hairiness of the hybrid in comparison to its more glabrous parent, <i>E. politus</i>.</p> <p>Nomenclature note.</p> <p> The type collection is taxonomically mixed. It contains typical plants of <i>E. rigidus</i> and the hybrid, which is less hairy and slightly less vigorous. This collection was distributed by Lindberg (1944) in his exsiccatae but its specimens were formed by chance: some appear to contain plants of <i>E. rigidus</i> only (H 039491), some belong only to the hybrid (OULU 059259), whereas the others may be mixed on the same sheet (H 339935).</p> <p>Taxonomic note.</p> <p> The morphology of this taxon is intermediate between <i>E. rigidus</i> and <i>E. politus</i>. Such plants typically have stems and leaves rather hairy, sometimes close to the pubescence of <i>E. rigidus</i> but never as dense and abundant as in the latter. On the other hand, its involucres highly resemble those of <i>E. politus</i> but are very sparsely covered by hairs. Because of this intermediacy, such plants were identified either as <i>E. politus</i> or as <i>E. rigidus</i>, likely depending on which part of the plant was more closely observed. We cannot refer these intermediate plants to any of the species, and therefore assume their hybrid origin, which requires a separate taxonomic placement as proposed here.</p> <p> The distribution of the alleged hybrids lies completely within the area of intense anthropogenic influence, whereas only typical plants of <i>E. politus</i> were observed in the areas of its presumably native distribution (higher mountains in the centre of the Kola Peninsula and the Kutsa River basin). We consider this distribution pattern as a strong evidence for the anthropogenic origin of the presumed hybrid, which was formed within the area to which both native and alien taxa of the <i>E. acris</i> group were transported by humans.</p>Published as part of <i>Sennikov, Alexander N. & Kozhin, Mikhail N., 2023, Taxonomic revision of the Erigeron acris group (Asteraceae) in Murmansk Region, Russia, reveals a complex pattern of native and alien taxa, pp. 83-128 in PhytoKeys 235</i> on page 83, DOI: 10.3897/phytokeys.235.11102

Erigeron brachycephalus H. Lindb., Sched. Pl. Finland. Exsicc. Fasc. 21 - 42: 88 1944

<p>8. Erigeron brachycephalus H.Lindb., Sched. Pl. Finland. Exsicc. Fasc. 21-42: 88 (1944)</p> <p>Erigeron acris brachycephalus - Erigeron acris subsp. brachycephalus (H.Lindb.) Hiitonen in Ann. Bot. Fenn. 8(1): 78 (1971).</p> <p>Type.</p> <p> Russia. Leningrad Region: " Isthmus Karelicus, par. Metsäpirtti [now Priozersk District], Taipale [now Solovievo], in campo sicco una cum <i>E. acris</i> (n. 1371) crescens", 26.06.1934, <i>H. Lindberg</i> [Plantae Finlandiae Exsiccatae no. 1372] (lectotype H 340008, designated by Väre (2012: 41); isolectotype H 758234 pro parte).</p> <p>Description.</p> <p>Stems 30-50 cm tall, branched in the upper third, intensely to slightly purple-coloured, rather densely covered by numerous hairs 0.6-1 mm long. Cauline leaves 8-14 under the synflorescence, rather congested, noticeably reduced towards the stem top, completely covered by numerous hairs ca. 0.5 mm long on both sides. Synflorescence with rather short branches carrying few to several capitula, racemose in shape, with abundant hairs 0.2-0.4(0.5) mm long. Phyllaries 5.5-6 mm long, slightly or moderately purple-coloured, outer and middle ones moderately covered by hairs up to 0.5-0.8 mm long, innermost ones with sparse to rare hairs. Ray flowers bright-pink. Pappus greyish-white.</p> <p>Flowers in July to August, fruits in August.</p> <p>Distribution in Murmansk Region.</p> <p>Coastal area of the White Sea, Vuorijarvi and Kuolajarvi Villages, Nivsky Village, isolated in Pasvik (Fig. 8D).</p> <p>Global distribution.</p> <p>Boreal zone of Fennoscandia and Eastern Europe, southern limit unknown.</p> <p>Nomenclatural note.</p> <p> The lectotype collection of <i>Erigeron brachycephalus</i> is taxonomically mixed. The designated lectotype at H (Väre 2012) belongs to the more hairy taxon (<i>E. brachycephalus</i> s.str. as defined in our work), whereas its presumed duplicates at OULU and S belong to the less hairy taxon, <i>E. uralensis</i>. A duplicate at H is mixed, with both taxa mounted together. Although Lindberg (1944) described his new species as “usually” less hairy than <i>E. acris</i> s.str., by adding the word “usually” he apparently included also more hairy plants as casual variants. Further collections included into the original circumscription of <i>E. brachycephalus</i> as other syntypes belong to even more deviating taxa, e.g. <i>E. droebachiensis</i>. Although the lectotype specimen of <i>E. brachycephalus</i> is different from the other parts of this collection examined by us, it cannot be treated as incongruent with the protologue because of a broader taxonomic circumscription used by Lindberg (1944).</p> <p>Taxonomic note.</p> <p> This species is most similar to <i>E. uralensis</i>, into which it has been recently included (Tzvelev 1994). It differs from the latter in a constantly much denser and more regular pubescence on stems, synflorescence branches, leaves and involucres, and by a regular red colouration of the whole plant.</p> <p> Prior to its scientific recognition, this taxon went under the collective name <i>E. droebachiensis</i> in Finland (Lindberg 1938). It was originally collected with the co-occurring <i>E. acris</i> s.str., from which it was distinguished by the paniculate synflorescence, a greater number of smaller heads, a much lesser development of pubescence and a later flowering period (Lindberg 1944).</p>Published as part of <i>Sennikov, Alexander N. & Kozhin, Mikhail N., 2023, Taxonomic revision of the Erigeron acris group (Asteraceae) in Murmansk Region, Russia, reveals a complex pattern of native and alien taxa, pp. 83-128 in PhytoKeys 235</i> on page 83, DOI: 10.3897/phytokeys.235.11102

Erigeron uralensis Less. in Linnaea 9: 186 1834

<p>7. Erigeron uralensis Less. in Linnaea 9: 186 (1834)</p> <p>Fig. 11</p> <p>Erigeron acris microcephalus - Erigeron acris var. microcephalus Ledeb., Fl. Ross. 2(2,6): 489 (1845).</p> <p>Type.</p> <p> Russia. Chelyabinsk Region: “Zlatoust”, 07.1832, <i>C.F. Lessing</i> (lectotype LE 01043675, designated here; isolectotype LE 01043674).</p> <p>Description.</p> <p>Stems 30-50 cm tall, branched in the upper third, intensely to slightly purple-coloured, sparsely covered by numerous hairs 0.5-0.8 mm long. Cauline leaves 8-12 under the synflorescence, sparse or slightly congested, noticeably reduced towards the stem top, very sparsely covered by numerous hairs 0.3-0.5 mm long on both sides (nearly glabrous in the middle part). Synflorescence with rather short branches carrying few to several capitula, racemose in shape, with rather sparse hairs 0.3-0.4 mm long. Phyllaries 5.5-6 mm long, slightly or moderately purple-coloured, outer and middle ones sparsely covered by hairs up to 0.5-1 mm long, innermost ones with solitary hairs. Ray flowers pink. Pappus greyish-white.</p> <p>Flowers in July to August, fruits in August.</p> <p>Distribution in Murmansk Region.</p> <p>Kandalaksha and Apatity industrial areas (Fig. 8C).</p> <p>Global distribution.</p> <p>Boreal and Hemiboreal zones of Fennoscandia and Eastern Europe, Ural Mts.</p> <p>Nomenclatural note.</p> <p>The species was described on the basis of a single herbarium collection from Zlatoust Town, Chelyabinsk Region, Russia (Lessing 1834). Ledebour (1845) cited a specimen of the original collection at the Berlin Botanical Garden, which is no longer extant. Two other specimens are preserved at the Komarov Botanical Institute in Saint-Petersburg, of which one is selected here as lectotype.</p> <p>Taxonomic note.</p> <p> Tzvelev (1994) recognised a single species with numerous capitula on short branches in the Russian North, which he named <i>E. uralensis</i> and considered to include a few other previously described species. Among these synonyms, <i>E. decoloratus</i> H.Lindb. and <i>E. elongatiformis</i> Novopokr. ex Serg. were apparently added in error because they belong to the group with corymbose synflorescences (few larger heads on longer branches), whereas <i>E. brachycephalus</i> shares all essential characters with the type collection of <i>E. uralensis</i> (paniculate synflorescence with numerous heads on shorter branches, sparse pubescence on involucres and synflorescence branches). This species is seemingly distributed from Eastern Finland (Mäkelä 1980) to the Ural Mountains (Lessing 1834) and Siberia (Tzvelev 1994). Although the original material of <i>E. brachycephalus</i> largely includes specimens of <i>E. uralensis</i>, its designated lectotype (Väre 2012) differs in the density of pubescence and should be referred to another taxon. These species names are therefore not synonyms.</p>Published as part of <i>Sennikov, Alexander N. & Kozhin, Mikhail N., 2023, Taxonomic revision of the Erigeron acris group (Asteraceae) in Murmansk Region, Russia, reveals a complex pattern of native and alien taxa, pp. 83-128 in PhytoKeys 235</i> on page 83, DOI: 10.3897/phytokeys.235.11102