Species: Euphrasia subarctica Raup

comments | credits | copyright

Back to: Plants at Risk in Saskatchewan

Euphrasia subarctica Raup

Species Image Gallery
(opens in a new window)

TAXONOMY

Family:

Scrophulariaceae

Genus:

Euphrasia

Species Synonyms:

Euphrasia arctica var. disjuncta sensu (Fern. & Wieg.) Cronq.
Euphrasia arctica var. dolosa (Boivin) Boivin
Euphrasia disjuncta var. dolosa Boivin
Euphrasia pennellii Callen p.p.

Common Names:

arctic eyebright

DISTRIBUTION

Canada:

Yukon – southern Mackenzie, south to British Columbia – western Alberta, northern Saskatchewan – northern Manitoba

Saskatchewan:

northern Saskatchewan; Lake Athabasca, Stony Rapids, La Loche, Buffalo Narrows, Southend, Pita Lake, Leaf Rapids

Ecoregion:

Mid-Boreal Upland, Churchill River Upland, Athabasca Plain, Tazin Lake Upland

HABITAT

Saskatchewan:

woods, clearings, rocky shores, and sedge-fen borders

Associated species:

Matricaria matricarioides, Plantago major, Poa pratensis, Trifolium repens

RARITY STATUS

Provincial Status According
to Harms (2003):

Threatened

Nature Conservancy Status:

G5Q S1S2

Saskatchewan Species at
Risk Status:

None

COSEWIC Status:

None

Euphrasia subarctica is threatened because it is rare or uncommon in Saskatchewan. No immediate threats are known but may occur in the future.

SPECIES DESCRIPTION

Growth Habit:

probably a root parasite

Height:

5 – 30 cm

Stems:

annual, slender, simple or branched, branches ascending, hairy

Leaves:

opposite, in 3 to 10 pairs, sessile, 2 – 18 mm long, oval or round, hairy, palmately veined, margin with three to five teeth on either side

Inflorescence:

flowers solitary in the leaf axils

Flowers:

calyx unequally 4-lobed, hairy; corolla 3 – 4 mm long, white with purple lines and a yellow spot, upper lip concave, slightly 2-lobed, lower slip spreading; stamens 4

Fruits:

capsule flattened, hairy

SCROPHULARIACEAE KEY FOR GENERA FOUND IN SASKATCHEWAN

1 Stamens 2	2
1 Stamens 4 or 5	4

2 Leaves alternate or all basal; corolla absent	Besseya
2 Leaves opposite; corolla present	3

3 Calyx 4-lobed; stamens exserted	Veronica
3 Calyx 5-lobed; stamens inserted	Gratiola

4 Leaves all basal	5
4 At least some leaves cauline	6

5 Flowers solitary; corolla rotate to campanulate; leaves usually entire or toothed	Limosella
5 Flowers in spicate racemes; corolla bilabiate; leaves pinnately lobed or cleft	Pedicularis

6 Corolla spurred	7
6 Corolla not spurred	9

7 Corolla bluish-purple, 4.5 – 6 mm long, excluding spur; flowers solitary in leaf axils	Chaenorrhinum
7 Corolla yellow or blue, 10 – 13 mm long, excluding spur; flowers in terminal racemes	8

8 Slender annual, 10 – 40 cm tall; corolla blue	Nuttallanthus
8 Stout perennial, 30 – 100 cm tall; corolla yellow and orange	Linaria

9 Floral bracts coloured, concealing flowers	Castilleja
9 Floral bracts green, flowers evident	10

10 Cauline leaves alternate	11
10 Cauline leaves opposite	13

11 Stamens 5, filaments villous; corolla actinomorphic, distinctly 5-lobed	Verbascum
11 Stamens 4, filaments glabrous; corolla zygomorphic, indistinctly 5-lobed	12

12 Basal leaves absent; cauline leaves usually entire, linear; flowers yellow; stamens not enclosed by galea	Orthocarpus
12 Basal leaves commonly present; cauline leaves toothed or pinnately lobed; flowers yellow to white or purple; stamens enclosed by galea	Pedicularis

13 Calyx 4-lobed	14
13 Calyx 5-lobed	17

14 Corolla pink or purple	Odontites
14 Corolla white to yellow	15

15 Calyx about 1 cm long in flower, enlarged, veiny, and membranous in fruit	Rhinanthus
15 Calyx less than 1 cm long in flower, not enlarged in fruit	16

16 Leaves 2 – 10 mm long, lobed, upper leaves sessile	Euphrasia
16 Leaves 10 – 40 mm long, more or less entire, upper leaves petiolate	Melampyrum

17 Staminode present, filamentous	Penstemon
17 Staminode absent or scale-like	18

18 Flowers blue; stamens enclosed by lower lip; upper cauline leaves whorled	Collinsia
18 Flowers greenish to yellow or reddish; stamens not enclosed by lower lip; cauline leaves all opposite	19

19 Corolla green with reddish or purple tinge; flowers less conspicuous, less than 1 cm long; calyx segments deeply parted	Scrophularia
19 Corolla yellow or pinkish red; flowers large and showy, 1 – 4 cm long; calyx segments united into tube	Mimulus