Aesculus assamica
| Aesculus assamica | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Aesculus assamica (young plant) |
||||||||||||
| Systematics | ||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||
| Scientific name | ||||||||||||
| Aesculus assamica | ||||||||||||
| Handle. |
Aesculus assamica is a member of the horse chestnut tree ( Aesculus ). It is native to the mountain forests of Southeast Asia and forms trees up to 32 m high.
features
Aesculus assamica is a tree and reaches heights of growth of up to 32 m and a diameter of 0.6 m at chest height. The bark is light gray. The branches are gray, glabrous or hairy when young.
The leaves consist of 5 to 9 leaflets arranged in the shape of a hand. The leaf stalk is 8 to 30 cm long and glabrous to hairy. The leaflet stalks are 0.3 to 1.5 cm long, glabrous to hairy, dark glandular when young. The leaflets are 12 to 35, rarely 7 to 42 cm long and 5 to 18 cm wide. Their shape is elongated-lanceolate to narrowly lanceolate. The underside is glabrous, slightly hairy or hairy on the nerves when young. The base of the leaf is truncated or rounded, the edge of the leaf is notched or serrated, the end of the leaf is pointed or tapered. There are 17 to 30 pairs of lateral nerves.
The inflorescence is a cylindrical thyrsus up to 45 cm long and 5 to 14 cm wide at the base. The inflorescence stalk is 7 to 13 cm long. The partial inflorescences are stalked 2 to 7 cm long and have 3 to 11 flowers. The flower stalks are 3 to 7 mm long. The flowers are fragrant. The calyx is 4 to 8 mm long and has gray to light yellow-gray hairs on the outside. The five calyx lobes are rounded, unevenly lobed or form two lips. The four petals are white or pale yellow, with purple or brown spots, sometimes orange towards the base or with reddish nails. The petals are unequal: the two upper ones are 10 to 20 mm long and obscured; the two on the side are 10 to 15 mm long, obverse ovate to obverse oval. The 6 to 7 stamens are up to 35 mm long and glabrous. The stamp is shaggy haired, the stylus , however bald hairy and silky. Flowering time is February to May, rarely in January.
The capsule fruit is yellowish-brown, ovate to obovate or almost spherical. Their size is 4.5 to 5 × 3 to 7.5 cm. The surface is smooth. The pericarp is 1.5 to 2 mm thick when dry. The fruit usually contains a seed. This is brown, almost spherical and 3 to 7 cm in diameter. The navel is white and takes up around half, rarely only a third of the seed. Fruit ripening is June to November.
The number of chromosomes is 2n = 40.
Distribution and locations
Aesculus assamica is found in northern Thailand, northwest Laos, northern Vietnam, southwest Yunnan , northern Burma , Assam , northern Bangladesh, Bhutan and Sikkim. It grows in tropical forests at altitudes of 100 to 2000 m. The location spectrum ranges from the wet forest to the broad-leaved forest to the semi-evergreen and mixed evergreen / deciduous forests in the sandstone hills and mountains, the subtropical hill forests, mountain forests and open forests.
Synonyms
Due to the large distribution area of Aesculus assamica (which extends over different climatic areas), Chinese and Indian botanists have attempted to split the species into several species based on minor differences in the appearance of Aesculus assamica . Since the differences used to differentiate the "species" lie in the natural range of variation in the appearance of the species , this could not prevail - this applies to:
- The correctly described "species": "Aesculus chuniana", "Aesculus lantsangensis", "Aesculus megaphylla", "Aesculus polyneura" and "Aesculus rupicola"
- The "species" "Aesculus punduana", "Aesculus wangii", "Aesculus tsiangii", "Aesculus coriaceifolia", and "Aesculus khassyana" for which no valid description has been published.
These of the "species names" can be found in the scientific literature.
As a synonym , the term Aesculus wangii is often used instead of Aesculus assamica - u. a. to designate plants that, due to their origin from (high altitude) of the northern distribution area ( China ), have a higher winter hardiness suitable for North America and Central Europe than those from the southern distribution areas.
literature
- James W. Hardin: Studies in the Hippocastanaceae V. Species of the Old World . Brittonia, Vol. 12, 1960, pp. 26-38.
- Nianhe Xia, Nicholas J. Turland: Aesculus . In: Flora of China , Volume 12, 2007, pp. 2-4. (pdf; 197 kB)
- For the (wrong) synonyms of A. assamica - see Flora of China
- To the indistinguishability of "A. wangii "and" A. assamica " ( Memento from September 1, 2006 in the Internet Archive ) (English; PDF; 30 kB)
Individual evidence
- ↑ Aesculus assamica at Tropicos.org. In: IPCN Chromosome Reports . Missouri Botanical Garden, St. Louis
