Brunfelsia uniflora
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Brunfelsia uniflora |
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| Brunfelsia uniflora | ||||||||||||
| ( Pohl ) D. Don |
Brunfelsia uniflora is a species from the Franciscea section of the genus Brunfelsia . The mostly 0.5 to 3 m high shrubs are found in parts of South America .
description
Vegetative characteristics
Brunfelsia uniflora is a 0.5 to 3 m high shrub that often branches strongly just above the base. The branches are twisted apart, slender, twisting, with age they become somewhat knotty and hairless. The bark is gray-brown and shiny. The young twigs are slender and hairless or finely hairy.
The leaves are distributed on the branches, they also vary greatly in size and shape on a plant. The petiole is 1 to 5 mm long and can be hairy. The leaf blade is between 2.5 and 8.0 cm long and between 1.0 and 4.0 cm wide. The shape is elongated-elliptical, lanceolate or, conversely, ovoid. Towards the tip the leaves are tapered or pointed, at the base they are narrowed or wedge-shaped. The top is dark to light green in color, the bottom is lighter and noticeably matt. The leaves are either slightly hairy or hairy on the underside along the veins, or completely hairless, they are membranous to almost leathery. On each side of the midrib, five to eight side veins arise, which can be straight or curved.
Inflorescences and flowers
The inflorescences are terminal at the tips of the new shoots. They are perch or only briefly and consist of only a single flower . If an inflorescence stalk is present, it is 1 to 6 mm long, slender, twisting and can be hairless, glandular hairy, finely hairy or tomentose. Below the flower are one to three light green, foliage-like bracts that are 1 to 5 mm long, finely hairy along the midrib and linear-lanceolate. The flower stalks are 1 to 6 mm long, hairless and stand upright.
The calyx is 8 to 20 mm long, 3 to 7 mm in diameter, light green, membranous and tubular or possibly tubular-bell-shaped, at the base it is narrowed. The calyx teeth are 1 to 3 mm long and stand upright or lying close, triangular-ovoid and tapering to a point. On the fruit, the calyx becomes leathery, clearly veined with stripes and dark green.
The crown consists of a 13 to 25 mm long corolla tube, whose diameter is 1 to 2 mm and is as long or twice as long as the calyx. The cross section of the corolla tube is pentagonal, it is hairless or only slightly hairy glandular. The coronet has a diameter of 15 to 30 mm and is spread apart from the corolla tube. The five corolla lobes are the same size, broadly rounded and occasionally notched. The corolla lobes converge closely at the base and overlap on the sides.
The four stamens are in pairs in the upper part of the corolla tube and do not protrude beyond this. The stamens are slender, about 3 to 5 mm long in the upper pair of stamens and 2 to 3 mm long in the lower pair. The anthers have a diameter of 1 mm and are spherical-kidney-shaped. The ovary has a height of 2 mm to 3, is closely tapered ovate to. The pen is slim, hairless and 15 to 23 mm long. The scar is slightly bilobed, the lobes are of different sizes and blunt.
Fruits and seeds
The fruits are capsules closely enclosed by the calyx , they are 7 to 8 mm long and 8 to 18 mm in diameter. They are almost spherical to ovoid. The surface of the fruit is smooth, shiny and dark green. The pericarp is 0.5 mm thick and does not open up until late.
Each fruit contains ten to 20 seeds , these are 3 to 5 mm long and 2 to 3 mm in diameter. They vary in shape, are usually ovoid-elliptical and slightly angled. The seed surface is granular, like a network, and is dark red-brown to almost black. The embryo is 2 to 4 mm long and slightly curved. The cotyledons are ovate.
Occurrence and locations
Brunfelsia uniflora is the most common species of the genus Brunfelsia and is distributed throughout eastern Brazil , with a few isolated occurrences in Venezuela and Bolivia . The species grows under a wide range of site conditions. It grows in humid rainforests in the mountains of the state of Rio de Janeiro and the Bolivian Yungas . But it also grows in drier regions of Minas Gerais , São Paulo , Ceará and the Cerrados in Goiás , as well as in northeastern Brazil. The soil types can be red clay , sand or moist humus . The species is found at altitudes between sea level and 3300 m.
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).
