Achlys (genus)
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Achlys is a genus of plants within the barberry family (Berberidaceae).
description
Vegetative characteristics
Achlys species grow as deciduous, perennial herbaceous plants and reach heights of 25 to 50 centimeters. They form branched rhizomes that have scales. The roots are often yellow inside. The short caudex is erect.
Each year only one to a few basal leaves are formed per plant specimen. The leaves are divided into petiole and leaf blade. The thin petioles are relatively long. The leaf blades are circular with a length of 20 to 40 centimeters and always simply three-part. The leaflets are triangular to fan-shaped, with entire margins, lobed or wavy and taper towards their base; the lateral leaflets are clearly asymmetrical. The leaf nerve is palmate.
Generative characteristics
On the more or less long inflorescence shafts are terminally the dense, spiked inflorescences . The lateral flowers are mostly unisexual and the terminal ones are always hermaphroditic.
Achlys is the only genus of the Berberidaceae family in which the flower organs are reduced. The white to cream-colored flowers, which are inconspicuous with a maximum size of 6 millimeters, are radial symmetry and threefold. There are no bracts . There are usually 9 (8 to 13) stamens . The wing-like flaps of the anthers that open at the top are bent inwards. The upper, one-chamber ovary is asymmetrical ellipsoid. The pollenexine is grooved. The placentation is marginal and the placenta is only developed at the base of the ovary. There is no stylus. The ± flat scar is furrowed.
The achenes, which are brown to red-purple colored when ripe, are curved and furrowed and open transversely and contain a brown seed.
The basic chromosome number is x = 11 or 6.
ecology
The rhizomes of the Achlys species overlap in large networks, forming dense Achlys carpets that dominate the herbaceous layer .
Occurrence
In the Pacific Northwest is Achlys triphylla in moist shady woods in the low to medium locations west of the Cascade Range of Vancouver Iceland and southern British Columbia south to northern California ubiquitously distributed.
Achlys seem to prefer moist soils , so they can easily be found at medium to high altitudes along stream banks and in heavily shaded gorges.
Systematics
The genus Achlys was established in 1821 by Augustin Pyramus de Candolle in Regni Vegetabilis Systema Naturale , Volume 2, page 35. According to Gledhill 2008, the genus Achlys is named after the Greek goddess Achlys , but there is also another view of how this name came about.
The genus Achlys belongs to the subtribe Epimediinae from the tribe Berberideae in the subfamily Berberidoideae within the family Berberidaceae .
Depending on the author, the genus Achlys contains two or three species. Achlys triphylla and Achlys californica are common in western North America. There is another species, Achlys japonica , in Japan, which some authors consider to be a subspecies of Achlys triphylla . Still other authors consider Achlys triphylla and Achlys californica to be too similar to distinguish them as separate species.
Two species with two subspecies are considered accepted:
- Achlys californica (Fukuda & Baker) : It occurs mainly in the coastal area in western North America from the southernmost part of British Columbia , via Washington , Oregon to northwestern California . It was first described in 1970 and is tetraploid .
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Achlys triphylla (Sm.) TLC. : There are two subspecies:
- Achlys triphylla (Sm.) TLC. subsp. triphylla : It occurs mainly in the Cascade Mountains in western North America from British Columbia, Washington, Oregon to northwestern California. It's diploid .
- Achlys triphylla subsp. japonica (Maxim.) Kitam. (Syn .: Achlys japonica Maxim. ): It occurs in Japan.
use
Well dried, the plant parts smell strongly aromatic of vanilla. In addition to being used as an excellent air freshener in tents, the Achlys species found there was used as an insect repellent by the indigenous peoples of North America, at least in southern British Columbia . The dried leaves were hung in clusters in entrances to keep flies and mosquitoes away, and it is not uncommon for naturalists to rub the dried or fresh leaves on the skin when they are in the Olympic Mountains or the Cascades during the summer mosquito repairs. Hiking season.
Common names
The common English names are vanilla leaf (sometimes written vanilla leaf or vanilla leaf), deer's foot and sweet after death, alluding to the vanilla scent of the crushed leaves.
Individual evidence
- ↑ Achlys at Tropicos.org. Missouri Botanical Garden, St. Louis, accessed October 27, 2019.
- ↑ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t Michael P. Williams 2012: Datasheet from Achlys at Jepson Flora Project (eds.) 2019: Jepson eFlora .
- ↑ a b c d e f g h i j k l m R. David Whetstone, TA Atkinson, Daniel D. Spaulding: Berberidaceae. : In: Flora of North America Editorial Committee (Ed.): Flora of North America North of Mexico , Volume 3 - Magnoliidae and Hamamelidae , Oxford University Press, New York and Oxford, July 17, 1997, ISBN 0-19-511246- 6 . Achlys - online with the same text as the printed work .
- ↑ Peter K. Endress: Chaotic Floral Phyllotaxis and Reduced Perianth in Achlys (Berberidaceae). In: Botanica Acta , Volume 102, Issue 2, 2014, pp. 159-163. doi : 10.1111 / j.1438-8677.1989.tb00085.x
- ↑ a b c Ichiro Fukuda, Herbert Baker: Achlys californica (Berberidaceae), a new species. In: Taxon , Volume 19, Issue 3, 1970, pp. 341-344. doi : 10.2307 / 1219059 JSTOR 1219059
- ↑ a b c d e Jim Pojar, Andy MacKinnon: Plants of the Pacific Northwest Coast (Revised Edition) . Lone Pine Publishing, 2004, ISBN 1-55105-530-9 , p. 528.
- ^ David Gledhill: The Names of Plants . Cambridge University, 2008, ISBN 978-0-521-86645-3 .
- ↑ Helen M. Gilkey, Dennis La Rea J .: Handbook of Northwestern Plants . Oregon State University Press, 2001, ISBN 0-87071-490-2 .
