× ''Beruladium procurrens'' is an

intergeneric hybrid In biology, a hybrid is the offspring resulting from combining the qualities of two organisms of different varieties, subspecies, species or genera through sexual reproduction. Generally, it means that each cell has genetic material from two dif ...

plant in the umbellifer family (Apiaceae); the result of hybridisation between ''

Berula erecta ''Berula erecta'', known as lesser water-parsnip, cutleaf waterparsnip, or narrow-leaved water-parsnip, is a member of the carrot family. Growing to around tall, it is found in or by water. It is widespread across much of Europe, Asia, Australi ...

'' (lesser water parsnip) and '' Helosciadium nodiflorum'' (fool's water cress).

Discovery

In July 1979

Max Walters Stuart Max Walters (23 May 1920 – 11 December 2005) was a British botanist and academic. Walters was educated at Penistone Grammar School and St John's College, Cambridge, where he took a first-class degree in natural sciences.Peter Grubb"Max ...

collected an unidentified plant from Chippenham Fen,

Cambridgeshire Cambridgeshire (abbreviated Cambs.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East of England and East Anglia. It is bordered by Lincolnshire to the north, Norfolk to the north-east, Suffolk to the east, Essex and Hertfor ...

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

; it resembled ''H. nodiflorum'', but grew as a floating mass in a fen ditch with small, pedunculate umbels rising above the water surface. Later that year, the specimen was exhibited as a living plant at the annual BSBI exhibition meeting at the

British Museum The British Museum is a Museum, public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is the largest in the world. It documents the story of human cu ...

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

. An initial putative determination of ''H. repens'' was made, but as the plants were found to produce poor

pollen Pollen is a powdery substance produced by most types of flowers of seed plants for the purpose of sexual reproduction. It consists of pollen grains (highly reduced Gametophyte#Heterospory, microgametophytes), which produce male gametes (sperm ...

and did not develop ripe

fruit In botany, a fruit is the seed-bearing structure in flowering plants (angiosperms) that is formed from the ovary after flowering. Fruits are the means by which angiosperms disseminate their seeds. Edible fruits in particular have long propaga ...

s a hybrid origin was deemed more likely, possibly ''H. repens'' x ''H. nodiflorum''. Later suggestions included a depauperate example of ''B. erecta'', which can be confused with ''H. nodiflorum'' in the vegetative state, or else an intergeneric hybrid between the two. The original material was cultivated for a number of years in

Cambridge University Botanic Garden The Cambridge University Botanic Garden is a botanical garden located in Cambridge, England, associated with the university Department of Plant Sciences, University of Cambridge, Department of Plant Sciences (formerly Botany School). It lies be ...

, but this stock is no longer extant, nor was material placed in Cambridge University Herbarium (CGE). However, the original collections made by Walters are present as dried specimens in the University of Leicester Herbarium (LTR), presumably retained after being sent to then herbarium director

Tom Tutin Thomas Gaskell Tutin, FRS (21 April 1908 – 7 October 1987) was Professor of Botany at the University of Leicester and co-author of ''Flora of the British Isles'' and ''Flora Europaea''. Early life Tutin was born on 21 April 1908 in Kew, Surrey, ...

for determination. Walters XBeruladium LTR

Plants considered to be the same as those collected by Walters in 1979 still occur on Chippenham Fen and, in 2014, Alan Leslie reexamined the plants and sent them for molecular and cytogenetic analysis at the University of Leicester, which revealed a previously unknown intergeneric hybrid between ''B. erecta'' and ''H. nodiflorum''.

Chromosome number

The original Walters' material and the 2014 collection from Chippenham Fen are both 2n = 20, which is consistent with an intergeneric hybrid between ''B. erecta'' (2n = 18) and ''H. nodiflorum'' (2n = 22)

Distribution

East Anglia (particularly Cambridgeshire and

Suffolk Suffolk ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East of England and East Anglia. It is bordered by Norfolk to the north, the North Sea to the east, Essex to the south, and Cambridgeshire to the west. Ipswich is the largest settlement and the county ...

). Notable sites: Chippenham Fen and Carlton Marshes.

Description

Creeping perennial herb that roots at most nodes. Leaves simply pinnate with up to 5 pairs of leaflets, which are ovate to broadly ovate. Petioles without petiolar ring characteristic of ''B. erecta''. Flowering umbels, typically small, are borne on peduncles, which vary from very short to longer than the rays of the umbel, and subtended at the base by an involucre of (1)2-3 bracts. Sterile; ripe fruit absent.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Beruladium procurrens Apiaceae Hybrid plants Intergeneric hybrids