Sea Mayweed Tripleurospermum maritimum and Scentless Mayweed T. inodorum (Asteraceae) intermediates in Orkney

This article describes a study of Tripleurospermum maritimum (L.) W.D.J. Koch and T. inodorum (L.) Sch. Bip. (Asteraceae) in the Orkney Islands (v.c.111), the results of which suggest that intermediates between these taxa may be rather common, and that T. maritimum subsp. nigriceps and subsp. maritimum are both involved, the former more frequently. Obviously this results in a complex taxonomic situation, evidently not confined to Orkney in the far north. Key identifying characters of the taxa are systematically examined and guidance offered on determining hybrids using a population level approach. The taxonomic complexities of these northern populations are discussed, with regard in particular to the identity of T. inodorum occurring there and the place of T. maritimum subsp. nigrescens in the forms and subspecies of T. maritimum found in the north Atlantic region.