Alpine butterbur

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Alpine butterbur
Alpine butterbur (Petasites paradoxus)

Alpine butterbur ( Petasites paradoxus )

Systematics
Order : Astern-like (Asterales)
Family : Daisy family (Asteraceae)
Subfamily : Asteroideae
Tribe : Senecioneae
Genre : Butterbur ( Petasites )
Type : Alpine butterbur
Scientific name
Petasites paradoxus
( Retz. ) Baumg.

The Alpine butterbur ( Petasites paradoxus (Retz.) Baumg. , Syn .: Petasites niveus (Vill.) Baumg. ) Also rubble butterbur , Snow butterbur or Snow White Butterbur called, is a plant of the genus of the butterbur ( Petasites ) within the family of the daisy family (Asteraceae).

description

Illustration from Atlas of Alpine Flora
Stalked leaves
Excerpts from an inflorescence with a macro shot of the flower heads
Fruiting alpine butterbur

Vegetative characteristics

The alpine butterbur grows as a perennial herbaceous plant and reaches heights of growth of 8 to 30 centimeters during flowering, the internodes stretch up to fruit ripeness and a growth height of up to 60 centimeters is reached.

The stem leaves are reddish-brown to purple and scale-shaped. The basal leaves only appear towards the end of the flowering period. The basal leaves are divided into a petiole and a leaf blade. The petiole is compressed on the sides, not ribbed and flattened on the top. With a width of up to 30 centimeters, the simple leaf blade of the basal leaves is usually longer than it is wide, triangular to heart-shaped and dentate. Their underside is dense, snow-white tomentose and not balding.

Generative characteristics

The flowering period extends from April to June. The cup-shaped partial inflorescences stand together in dense racemose total inflorescences. The pointed bracts are hairy almost to the top. The flower heads contain only reddish tubular flowers .

The achenes have a white pappus (crown of hair).

The number of chromosomes is 2n = 60.

Occurrence

The range of the alpine butterbur includes the Alps , the Swiss Jura , the Pyrenees , the Balkans and the Carpathians from the valley to at altitudes of 2,700 meters. In the Allgäu Alps, near the Widdersteinhütte in Vorarlberg , it rises to an altitude of 2020 meters.

The alpine butterbur is widespread in the limestone mountains of the entire Alps. In Austria it is common except in the federal states of Vienna and Burgenland.

The limestone species prefers fine, stony slopes, brook gravel and seeping rock debris as well as pine forests. It is the character species of the snow-butterbur corridor (Petasitetum paradoxi) from the association Petasition paradoxi.

The Alpine butterbur inhabits extreme locations. It is a Schuttüberkriecher by sagging, stretching sets capable aboveground shoots over the loose rubble. It reacts very flexibly to the movement of rubble. The butterbur is a raw soil pioneer and contributes to the consolidation of the soil. It thus represents an important initial stage in the natural succession to the subalpine Swiss stone pine-larch forest. With its deep and well-branched taproot , this species is a very good rubble stabilizer. Nevertheless, the species is often washed down into the foothills of the Alps by natural events such as mudslides , landslides or rockfalls .

literature

  • Manfred A. Fischer , Wolfgang Adler, Karl Oswald: Excursion flora for Austria, Liechtenstein and South Tyrol. 2nd, improved and enlarged edition. State of Upper Austria, Biology Center of the Upper Austrian State Museums, Linz 2005, ISBN 3-85474-140-5 .
  • P. Mertz: Plant communities of Central Europe and the Alps. Recognize, determine, evaluate. Ecomed Verlagsgesellschaft, Landsberg / Lech, 2000 ISBN 3-609-19380-8 .

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c Petasites paradoxus (Retz.) Baumg., Alpine butterbur. In: FloraWeb.de.
  2. ↑ a b Erich Oberdorfer : Plant-sociological excursion flora for Germany and neighboring areas. 8th edition. Stuttgart, Verlag Eugen Ulmer, 2001 ISBN 3-8001-3131-5 . Page 947-948.
  3. ↑ Erhard Dörr, Wolfgang Lippert : Flora of the Allgäu and its surroundings. Volume 2, IHW, Eching 2004, ISBN 3-930167-61-1 , p. 613.
  4. ^ Heinrich Jenny-Lipps: Vegetation conditions and plant communities on rock debris. Phytosociological studies in the Glarus Alps. Diss. Zurich Technical University, 1930, p. 182 (PDF).

Web links

Commons : Alpine butterbur ( Petasites paradoxus )  - album with pictures, videos and audio files