INTRASPECIFIC VARIATION IN CALT HA PALUSTRIS

Abstract

A biometric study of herbarium, wild and cultivated specimens of Caltha palustris L. s.l. in the British Isles indicates that most of the variation in the wild is environmentally determined. Further, there is no correlation of morphology with cytological differentiation. All taxa previously described within C. palustris L. are consequently regarded as untenable, with the exception of plants which differ by the single character of rooting at the nodes, and which show partial geographical differentiation. They are reduced to varietal status. Copyright © 1971, Wiley Blackwell. All rights reserved