Snapdragons

Snapdragons
Antirrhinum coulterianum
Systematics
Asterids Euasterids I Order : Mint family (Lamiales) Family : Plantain family (Plantaginaceae) Tribe : Antirrhineae Genre : Snapdragons
Scientific name
Antirrhinum
L.

The snapdragons or snapdragon ( Antirrhinum ) are a genus of plants , which today due to molecular biological data into the family of plantain plants is classified (Plantaginaceae). Traditionally, it was placed in the figwort family (Scrophulariaceae). The genus Antirrhinum has a disjoint distribution area and occurs with 21 species in the western Mediterranean and 15 species in western North America . The varieties of several Antirrhinum species are popular as ornamental plants and the snapdragon ( Antirrhinum majus ) is an important model plant for research into flower development .

Description and ecology

Illustration of the snapdragon ( Antirrhinum majus )

Vegetative characteristics

Snapdragon species are perennial or annual herbaceous plants. The growth varies greatly and includes largely unbranched, highly branched and twining species. In most of the American species, short climbing shoot axes are formed. All species have a strongly developed root network as an adaptation to dry locations. Of the leaves, the upper ones are usually sessile and alternate, the lower ones are stalked and arranged opposite one another. The simple leaf blade is pinnate.

Generative characteristics

The flowers stand alone or in terminal, racemose inflorescences together. The hermaphroditic, zygomorphic flowers are, with the exception of Antirrhinum ovatum , designed as conspicuous mask flowers , which are closed by the palate-like bulging lower lip. The nectar is of an annular Nectary at the base of the ovary discharged and collected in a bag-like bulge on the underside of the lower lip. The three tips of the lower lip are of different sizes and, like the two tips of the upper lip, can be angled or curved differently. For pollination , a correspondingly powerful flying insect has to press its lower lip down to get to the nectar and pollen.

Of the unequal, poricidal capsule fruits , the lower, larger chamber opens with two apical pores, while the upper chamber usually has only one pore.

Systematics

The genus Antirrhinum was established by Carl von Linné .

Antirrhinum section : habit and flowers of Antirrhinum barrelieri subsp. litigiosum

Antirrhinum section : Antirrhinum charidemi

The genus Antirrhinum is divided into three sections with a total of about 40 species:

• The Antirrhinum section contains about 20 perennial species in the western Mediterranean area with relatively large flowers and a chromosome number of n = 8. Most species are endemic with a limited range on the Iberian Peninsula :
  • Antirrhinum australe Rothm. : It occurs only in southern and southeastern Spain on limestone rocks and walls.
  • Antirrhinum barrelieri Boreau
  • Antirrhinum braun-blanquetii Rothm.
  • Antirrhinum charidemi Lange
  • Antirrhinum graniticum Rothm. (Syn .: Antirrhinum boissieri Rothm. )
  • Antirrhinum grosii font transverse
  • Antirrhinum hispanicum Chav.
  • Antirrhinum latifolium Mill.
  • Antirrhinum lopesianum Rothm. : It was first described from Portugal.
  • Great snapdragon ( Antirrhinum majus L. )
  • Antirrhinum meonanthum Hoffmanns. & Link
  • Antirrhinum microphyllum Rothm. : It occurs only in east-central Spain on limestone rocks.
  • Antirrhinum molle L.
  • Antirrhinum pertegasii Rothm. : It occurs only on limestone cliffs in eastern Spain at an altitude of about 1000 meters.
  • Antirrhinum pulverulentum Lázaro Ibiza : It occurs only in eastern Spain on limestone cliffs at altitudes between 1000 and 2000 meters above sea level.
  • Antirrhinum rupestre Boiss. & Reut. : It was first described from southeastern Spain.
  • Antirrhinum sempervirens Lapeyr.
  • Antirrhinum siculum Mill.
  • Antirrhinum valentinum font cross

Section Orontium : Creeping snapdragon ( Antirrhinum orontium )

Section Saerorhinum : Antirrhinum nuttallianum

• The Orontium section includes two small-flowered and annual species with a chromosome number of n = 8 that occur in the Mediterranean region. Some authors also place both species in their own genus Misopates .
  • Antirrhinum calycinum Lam. (Syn .: Misopates calycinum Rothm. ): It is originally found in Madeira, Spain, Portugal, France, Italy, Sardinia and Sicily. Theoriginality is doubtful in Lanzarote .
  • Acker-snapdragon ( Antirrhinum orontium L. ; Syn .: Misopates orontium (L.) Raf. )

• The Saerorhinum section comprises about 15 small-flowered, annual species with a tetraploid chromosome set with n = (13-) 15-16 that occur in western North America:
  • Antirrhinum cornutum Benth.
  • Antirrhinum costatum Wiggins : It was first described from Mexico.
  • Antirrhinum coulterianum Benth.
  • Antirrhinum cyathiferum Benth.
  • Antirrhinum filipes A. Gray
  • Antirrhinum kelloggii Greene : It was first described from California.
  • Antirrhinum kingii S. Watson
  • Antirrhinum leptaleum A. Gray : It was first described from California.
  • Antirrhinum multiflorum Pennell (Syn .: Sairocarpus multiflorus D.A.Sutton ): It occurs in California and Nevada.
  • Antirrhinum nuttallianum Benth. (Syn .: Sairocarpus nuttallianus (Benth. Ex A.DC.) DASutton ): It occurs in southern California, in Arizona and in Baja California, Mexico.
  • Antirrhinum ovatum Eastw. : It was first described from California.
  • Antirrhinum subcordatum A. Gray
  • Antirrhinum vexillo-calyculatum Kellogg
  • Antirrhinum virga A. Gray
  • Antirrhinum watsonii Vasey & Rose : It was first described from California.

Antirrhinum section : variety of the snapdragon ( Antirrhinum majus )

use

Many snapdragon varieties are used as ornamental plants .

swell

• David M. Thompson: Systematics of Antirrhinum (Scrophulariaceae) in the New World . In: Systematic Botany Monographs . tape 22 , 1988, pp. 1-142 (English).
• Ryan K. Oyama, David A. Baum: Phylogenetic relationships of North American Antirrhinum (Veronicaceae) . In: American Journal of Botany . tape 91 , 2004, p. 918-925 (English, amjbot.org ).

Web links

Commons : Snapdragons ( Antirrhinum )  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

1. ^ DC Albach, HM Meudt, B. Oxelman: Piecing together the "new" Plantaginaceae . In: American Journal of Botany . tape 92 , 2005, p. 297-315 (English, amjbot.org ).
2. ↑ ^{a b c d e f g} Antirrhinum in Flora Europaea .
3. ↑ ^{a b c} Karol Marhold, 2011+: Scrophulariaceae. : Datasheet Antirrhinum In: Euro + Med Plantbase - the information resource for Euro-Mediterranean plant diversity.
4. ^ ^{A b} David M. Thompson: Systematics of Antirrhinum (Scrophulariaceae) in the New World . In: Systematic Botany Monographs . tape 22 , 1988, pp. 1-142 (English).
5. ↑ ^{a b c} Karol Marhold, 2011+: Scrophulariaceae. : Misopates data sheet In: Euro + Med Plantbase - the information resource for Euro-Mediterranean plant diversity.
6. ↑ ^{a b} Sairocarpus in the Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN) USDA , ARS , National Genetic Resources Program. National Germplasm Resources Laboratory, Beltsville, Maryland. Retrieved March 22, 2020.