Brunfelsia mire
| Brunfelsia mire | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Systematics | ||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||
| Scientific name | ||||||||||||
| Brunfelsia mire | ||||||||||||
| Monach. |
Brunfelsia mire is a species from the Franciscea section of the genus Brunfelsia . The mostly only 0.2 to 1 m high shrubs are found in parts of Bolivia , Peru and Brazil .
description
Vegetative characteristics
Brunfelsia mire is a mostly non-branching, 0.2 to 1 m high shrub , only rarely does it grow up to 2 m high. The stem axis has a diameter of up to 8 mm and is hairless. The bark is thin, light to dark brown and wrinkled.
The leaves are near the tip of the stem axis in whorl-like groups of up to six leaves. The petiole is strong and 2 to 12 mm long, but can also be absent. The leaf blade is 12 to 28 cm long and 4 to 8 cm wide. It is inversely lanceolate to elongated, only rarely ovoid-elongated. Towards the front it is pointed to pointed, the point itself is often almost sickle-shaped. The base is blunt to wedge-shaped. The leaves are hairless, dull, dark green on top and pale green on the underside. They are almost leathery to leathery and smooth. Eight to 13 lateral veins emanate from the midrib on each side, which run straight or slightly curved, usually diverge slightly and are rarely forked. The small veins are clearly visible as a network with wide spaces.
Inflorescences and flowers
The inflorescences emerge terminally from the upper groups of leaves. They are perennial, head-like to panicle-like and have an inflorescence axis up to 10 mm long , on which there are between eight and 30 flowers densely packed . The bracts are foliage-like, 2 to 4 mm long, lanceolate and ciliate. The flower stalks are 3 to 10 mm long, slender and hairless.
The calyx is 10 to 18 mm long, has a diameter of 4 to 8 mm, is tubular to tubular-bell-shaped and hairless or rarely with hairy glands. It is set with calyx teeth, which are 3 to 7 mm long, ovate to lanceolate-ovoid and pointed. On the fruit, the calyx is almost leathery and spotted with warty spots, the calyx teeth become strong incisions.
The crown is initially purple, but fades to white with age. The slender corolla tube has a length of 25 to 38 mm and a diameter of 2 to 3 mm and is twice to three times as long as the calyx. It is hairless or covered with a few isolated glandular trichomes . The coronet measures 25 to 50 mm in diameter and protrudes from the corolla tube. The corolla lobes have a length of 15 mm, they are broadly rounded and overlap at the side edges.
The four stamens are in two pairs and set in the upper part of the corolla tube and do not protrude beyond it. The stamens are slender and 4 mm long in the upper pair of stamens and 3 mm long in the lower pair. The anthers have a length of 1.5 mm and are kidney-shaped-horseshoe-shaped. The ovary is 2 mm high and egg-shaped. The stylus is thread-shaped and reaches the end of the stamens. The scar is slightly bilobed, the two lobes stand apart and are almost the same length, each about 1 mm in length.
Fruits and seeds
The fruits are 13 to 20 mm long and 12 to 18 mm in diameter capsules . They are almost spherical to ovoid and are pointed towards the front. The smooth pericarp is 0.5 mm thick, cartilaginous, drying up when ripe and springing up late. Each fruit contains ten to 15 seeds , these are 5 to 6 mm long, measure 3 mm in diameter, are elongated, elliptical, angular, dark brown and grained like a network.
Occurrence and locations
The species occurs in the foothills of the Cordilleras from central Bolivia to Peru and in the north and east to parts of Brazil . The plants grow in moist, often swampy forests in deep shade, mostly at altitudes between 400 and 1400 m.
Etymology and usage
The epithet was taken from the local name of the plant "mire" . Under this name the species is used by the indigenous people of central Bolivia as a medicine against skin parasites.
literature
- Timothy C. Plowman (Author), Sandra Knapp, JR Press (Ed.): A Revision of the South American Species of Brunfelsia (Solanaceae) . Field Museum of Natural History, Chicago August 1998, ISBN 978-9998104693 . (Fieldiana Botany, New Series, number 39).