Vahlodea Explained

Vahlodea is a monotypic genus of plants in the grass family. The only known species is Vahlodea atropurpurea [1]

Its native range is the subarctic (such as Greenland), to temperate parts of the Northern Hemisphere. From (Europe within; Finland, North European Russia, Norway and Sweden,) to Asia within (Japan, Kamchatka, Kuril Islands, Magadan and Taiwan,) and in North America (within the Canadian provinces of; Alberta, British Columbia, Manitoba, Newfoundland and Labrador, Northwest Territories, Nunavut, Ontario, Québec and Yukon and within the USA states of; Alaska, the Aleutian Islands, California, Colorado, Idaho, Maine, Montana, New Hampshire, New York, Oregon, Vermont, Washington and Wyoming,) and also southern South America (within Argentina and Chile).[1]

The genus name of Vahlodea is in honour of Jens Vahl (1796–1854), a Danish botanist and pharmacist.[2] The Latin specific epithet of atropurpurea means "dark-purple coloured".[3] Both the genus and the sole species were first described and published in Bot. Not. (1842) Vol.141 on page 178 in 1842.[1]

The genus is recognized by the United States Department of Agriculture and the Agricultural Research Service, and they list Vahlodea atropurpurea as the known species.[4]

It was thought to be a synonym of Deschampsia,[5] [6] but a 2007 molecular phylogenetic study supported the recognition of Avenella and Vahlodea.[4]

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Vahlodea Fr. Plants of the World Online Kew Science . Plants of the World Online . 3 January 2022 . en.
  2. Book: Burkhardt, Lotte . Verzeichnis eponymischer Pflanzennamen – Erweiterte Edition . Index of Eponymic Plant Names – Extended Edition . Botanic Garden and Botanical Museum, Freie Universität Berlin . 2018 . 978-3-946292-26-5 . pdf . German . Berlin . 10.3372/epolist2018 . 1 January 2021.
  3. Book: Harrison, Lorraine . RHS Latin for Gardeners . 2012 . Mitchell Beazley . United Kingdom . 978-1845337315 .
  4. Web site: Species of Vahlodea Fr. . npgsweb.ars-grin.gov . 3 January 2022.
  5. Hickman, J. C., ed. 1993. The Jepson manual: higher plants of California
  6. Hitchcock, A. S. 1950. Manual of the grasses of the United States, ed. 2