EVIDENCE AGAINST THE EXISTENCE OF VARIETIES IN ARCTAGROSTIS-LATIFOLIASSP ARUNDINACEA (POACEAE)

The morphological diversity of North American specimens of Arctagrosti s latifolia sap. arundinacea (Trin.) Tzvelev was evaluated for possibl e varieties within the subspecies by considering (i) descriptions of t hree previously recognized taxa included in the subspecies, (ii) measu rements of spikelet characters of the types of five taxa, (iii) Macoun 's illustrations of spikelet diversity, (iv) a morphological study of 130 herbarium specimens, and (v) a transplant garden study. Characters thought to be uninfluenced by environment were examined. These includ ed (i) the seed protein banding patterns revealed by SDS-PAGE, (ii) th e guard cell sizes from plants of known chromosome number, and (iii) a study of anther lengths and pollen diameters. The data do not support the recognition of varieties.