Vaccinium constablaei A.Gray

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Elevation 6000 feet.
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NEW YORK BOTANICAL GARDEN
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Vaccinium
Determined by W. H. Camp, 19 ^
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PLANTS OF WESTERN NORTH CAROLINA,
COLLECTED ON GRANDFATHER MOUNTAIN, WATAUGA COUNTY,
August 6,1691,
By J. K. SMALL and A. A. HELLER.
Note on the Vaccinium const^hlaei complex
The 1941 work on the Grandfather Mountain material
(the herbarium material of which has not yet been
mounted because of lack of poisoning material) indicates
that two tetraploids altomontanum (AAAA) and simul-
atum (SSSS) are present in the area*. V. altomontanum
is a low clone-former most abundant on exposed rocks;
V. simulatum is a coarse shrub generally four to seven
feet high. There is now evidence that the two have
met in the area and hybridized* Out of this hybrid
swarm has arisen a series of hexaploids, the reciprocals
of which would be AAAASS and AASSSS. However, by
replacement of homologous chromosomes (probably) there
has arisen an exceedingly complex population of hexaploids,
some of which arenaltomontanoidw (AAAAAS or even AAAAAA);
the other extreme is the11 Simulatoid11 (ASSSSS or SSSSSS).
It is obvious that,on the basis of herbarium
material^ the hexaploid AAAAAA would be very difficult to
distinguish from the tetraploid AAAA; in the field the
difficulty is much less for there are textural and height
differences which distinguish them. Also there generally
are differences in flower and fruit size* The same is
true of the true simulatum and the"simulatoidw segregate*
The moral to this is: Without adequate field data,
which as a minimum should include clone type and plant'
height, the systematist who tackles a pile of specimens
which are not annotated is guessing in about half of the
cases* It is erroneous to suppose that the great
bulk of the population of this region around Grand-
father Mountain war to BE hexaploid* This misconception
is the result of selective research*, In other words,
the horticulturists have selected for fruit size —
and the chromosome counts were made mostly from these
plants — and these happened to be the hexaploids* The
smaller fruited tetraploids were passed by* As noted
on another sheet, I	pleased with my
notes on the material fre®=>*&® Great Smokies*
_W.IUCamp, Aug* 1942*
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