Melampyrum pratense L. (Scrophulariaceae) is known
to be a variable species, and population studies on it have been carried e.g. in
Finland. However, usually no intraspecific taxa are recognized. A group of
populations possess the most spectacular blossom within the species: (i) the flowers
of these plants are concentrated towards the stem apex to form a dense main
inflorescence, (ii) more than only one or a few pairs of the flowers are in
blossom simultaneously, (iii) the corolla is larger, (iv) the
corolla is deep yellow throughout (mostly with some green in the upper lip), (v)
the uppermost bracts are smaller, and (vi) the uppermost bracts are more
deeply laciniate. The plant is truly showy because of the floral features,
the small uppermost bracts, and also because it tends to grow in dense, often
sharply delimited stands (it may thus also display some ecological difference as
compared with the other races and populations of M. pratense). These
showy populations dwell especially at the
southern coastal areas of Finland. According my observations, this kind of
plants dominate among the variability of the species e.g. in the Kotka area. M. pratense var.
hians Druce applies to these plants which, admittedly, are not always sharply separated from the remainder populations of the species.
At the species level, the name is M. hians (Druce) Tzvelev.
A good colour photograph of the present taxon is given on p. 553
(as M. pratense) in the work Jalas, J. (ed.) 1980: Suuri
kasvikirja. 3.
–
944 p. Otava. Helsinki.
Created August 5, 2004. Latest revision January 15, 2008.