History and distribution of Sagina procumbens forma daviesii

Abstract

There have been occasional records of flore pleno forms of Sagina procumbens from Britain and Ireland for 200 years. Druce assigned these forms the varietal name var. daviesii, and a lectotype is designated here. A varietal rank cannot be maintained for this form, which becomes forma daviesii stat. nov. The records and observations on this variety are reviewed, including a new report from vc110 (Outer Hebrides), and the distribution is summarised.

Keywords:

• flore pleno
• teratology
• petalody

Acknowledgements

I am grateful to Arthur Chater for advice on the identity of my Sagina specimen, and setting me off on the trail which led to this paper. I would also like to thank the keepers at BM and E for access to specimens, and Herbaria@Home for making wider herbarium information readily available. Helpful comments from two reviewers led to a substantially improved paper.

ORCID

Paul A. Smith http://orcid.org/0000-0001-5337-2746