Arabis alpina
| Arabis alpina | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| (unranked): | Angiosperms |
| (unranked): | Eudicots |
| (unranked): | Rosids |
| Order: | Brassicales |
| Family: | Brassicaceae |
| Genus: | Arabis |
| Species: | A. alpina |
| Binomial name | |
| Arabis alpina L. |
|
| Synonyms | |
|
Arabis merinoi Pau |
|
Arabis alpina (Alpine rock-cress) is a flowering plant in the family Brassicaceae that grows in mountainous areas of Europe, north Africa, central and eastern Asia and parts of North America. In the British Isles, it is only known to occur in a few locations in the Cuillin Ridge of the Isle of Skye.
The stems of A. alpina grow up to 40 cm (16 inches) tall, and are topped with loose heads of white, four-petalled flowers. The leaves in the basal rosette are long, strongly toothed and clearly stalked, although the stem leaves are stalkless and clasp the stem.
A. alpina grows in damp gravels and screes, often over limestone.
A. alpina is believed to have originated in Asia Minor about 2 million years ago. From there it migrated twice into East Africa (500,000 years ago) where it grows today on the high East African mountains in the ericaceaous belt. Another migration route lead A. alpina into Europe which was then colonised periglacially. In genetic terms, the highest diversity is found in Asia Minor. In central and northern Europe, A. alpina seems to be genetically quite uniform [1].
There is growing interest to develop Arabis alpina as a model organism for genetics, population genetics, and molecular biology. The first genetic linkage map has been created and the first phenotypes, especially perenniality, are tackled by QTL mapping.
[edit] References
- ^ M. A. Koch, C. Kiefer, D. Ehrich, J. Vogel, C. Brochmann & K. Mummenhoff (2006). "Three times out of Asia Minor: the phylogeography of Arabis alpina L. (Brassicaceae)". Molecular Ecology 15 (3): 825–39. doi:10.1111/j.1365-294X.2005.02848.x. PMID 16499705.
[edit] External links
- The Linnean Plant Name Database: information about the type specimen
