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7 June 2018 A Common Garden Experiment to Evaluate the Morphological Distinction between Two Species of Shooting Star (Primula section Dodecatheon) Native to Pennsylvania
Carol Loeffler, Larry Klotz
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Abstract

Two similar species of Primula section Dodecatheon are native and rare in Pennsylvania: Primula meadia in the Potomac watershed and Primula fassettii (syn. D. amethystinum), in the Susquehanna watershed. In the field, P. meadia is more robust than P. fassettii in most features. We conducted a common garden experiment to determine whether P. fassettii would more nearly resemble P. meadia. We collected seeds from one field site in both watersheds in 2008. Plants were grown in a greenhouse at Mt. Cuba Center, Delaware, until 2011, then in raised beds in a shade house. The first plants bloomed in 2012, and almost all bloomed in 2013 and 2014. We gathered data on 22 characteristics through 2014. The two populations exhibited statistically significant convergence in the common garden (less difference than in the field) in leaf length and length-width ratio, flower number, and capsule wall thickness. Significant divergence (more difference than in the field) occurred in scape diameter, corolla color, and capsule shape and color value. The remaining characters did not converge or diverge: leaf width, leaf base coloration, scape length, calyx lobe length, corolla length, calyx:corolla length ratio, anther length, and anther color, as well as capsule length, width, length-width ratio, valve length, hue, and chroma. In common garden (compared to field) scape dimensions, flower number, capsule dimensions, and capsule wall thickness increased while calyx lobe length decreased. Corolla and anther length did not change. Corolla color was significantly darker in Susquehanna plants, while capsule hue became more reddish in both populations.

Copyright 2018 Southern Appalachian Botanical Society
Carol Loeffler and Larry Klotz "A Common Garden Experiment to Evaluate the Morphological Distinction between Two Species of Shooting Star (Primula section Dodecatheon) Native to Pennsylvania," Castanea 83(2), 196-215, (7 June 2018). https://doi.org/10.2179/17-144
Received: 10 August 2017; Accepted: 11 April 2018; Published: 7 June 2018
KEYWORDS
Common garden
Dodecatheon
Pennsylvania
Primula fassettii
Primula meadia
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