Alaskan mountain-avens

Dryas octopetala Linnaeus subsp. alaskensis (A. E. Porsild) Hultén; D. octopetala var. glabrata Hultén; D. punctata Juzepczuk subsp. alaskensis (A. E. Porsild) Jurtzev

Plants 2–18 cm. Leaf blades obovate or oblong-elliptic to narrowly oblong, 4.5–39 × 2–19 mm, base usually cuneate, sometimes truncate or cordate, margins coarsely dentate to crenate, sinuses 45–60% to midvein, apex rounded to obtuse, surfaces smooth to rugose, plicate, ˂midvein and lateral veins adaxially sunken into folds˃, abaxial sparsely hairy to tomentose, adaxial usually glabrous, sometimes sparsely hairy proximally on midvein, feathery hairs and stipitate glands absent. Peduncles 25–130 mm. Flowers erect at flowering; sepals lanceolate to narrowly elliptic, 5.5–9 × 1.5–2 mm; petals 8, spreading, usually white or cream, sometimes yellow, 9–14 × 5–11 mm; filaments glabrous. Achenes 2–3 mm; styles 12–27 mm. 2n = 18.

Flowering Jun–Aug. Solifluction soil, sand-gravel beaches, sandy lakeshores, old beach ridges, wet meadows, stream banks, dry rocky knolls, rocky heath, ericaceous tundra; 100–1800 m; Yukon; Alaska; e Asia (Russian Far East: Chukotka).

Dryas punctata Juzepczuk has been reported from North America as a synonym of D. octopetala var. octopetala (E. Hultén 1968); it is now considered to be confined to northeastern Europe and northern Asia (R. Elven et al., http://nhm2.uio.no/paf/). Hultén (1959b) reduced D. octopetala var. glabrata to the rank of forma and later to synonymy under D. alaskensis (Hultén 1968).