In the Western Carpathians, we identified a strongly isolated stand of a species belonging in the fern genus Woodsia. Based on morphological characters, nuclear DNA content analysis and chromosome counts, we determined that the species occurring in the Polish Tatra Mts. is W. pulchella and not W. alpina, as was supposed before. The population is situated 365 km from the nearest one in the eastern Alps in Austria. Woodsia pulchella grows on northern slopes of the Giewont massif in the Western Tatra, on dolomite rocks between 1100–1480 m a.s.l. at two closely-situated localities. The current distribution of W. pulchella in Europe is detailed and the evolutionary origin of this very rare and relict species is discussed.
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1 August 2015
Woodsia pulchella in the Western Carpathians: A Relict Species at the Northern Limit of Its Distribution
Jerzy Kruk,
Elwira Sliwinska,
Aleksandra Grabowska-Joachimiak,
Krystyna Kromer,
Renata Szymańska
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Annales Botanici Fennici
Vol. 52 • No. 3–4
August 2015
Vol. 52 • No. 3–4
August 2015
