Aplectrum hyemale
| Aplectrum hyemale | ||||||||||||
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Drawing of Aplectrum hyemale in Britton and Brown: An illustrated flora of the northern United States, Canada and the British Possessions |
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| Scientific name of the genus | ||||||||||||
| Aplectrum | ||||||||||||
| Torr. | ||||||||||||
| Scientific name of the species | ||||||||||||
| Aplectrum hyemale | ||||||||||||
| ( Muhl. Ex Willd. ) Torr. |
Aplectrum hyemale is a species of orchid from North America. It is the only species in the genus Aplectrum . It develops a single leaf in autumn, which overwinters and wilts in spring when it blooms. The plants reach a height of 20 to 50 centimeters.
description
In Aplectrum hyemale is perennial , herbaceous plants. They form a thin rhizome underground , on which a new tuber forms every year . The roots arise on the underside of the tuber, they are white, somewhat fleshy, with a velamen radicum surrounded by a layer of cells thick. Young plants in particular have a thickened, branched rhizome that contains more mycorrhizal fungi .
A single leaf sprouts from the tuber in autumn . The sheet is oval, it measures about ten to twenty centimeters long and three to eight centimeters wide. The texture is thin, puckered (plicate) along the protruding leaf veins. The upper side is dark green with whitish leaf veins, the underside dark brownish red or greenish red. The base is stalked, the end tapers to a point. While the leaf shoots upright, it later tilts horizontally and wilts in spring when it blooms.
The inflorescence appears laterally from the tuber. The peduncle is enveloped by tubular bracts . The bracts are small (three to seven millimeters long) and pointed. The resupinated flowers sit in a loose, multi-flowered cluster . The petals are greenish or yellowish in color and tinged with a little brownish-red, only the lip is white with reddish markings. The sepals are spread out, the petals point forward parallel to the column . The lip is three-lobed, the side lobes stand upright, the middle lobe is larger and ends bluntly with a wavy edge. At the bottom of the lip are three fleshy calluses running lengthways. The column is elongated, at the end it bears the concave sunk stigma and the stamen . This contains four pollinia , which are connected to the adhesive disc (Viscidium) by a small stalk (Hamulus). The capsule fruit is oval, about 1.5 to three centimeters long and one centimeter in diameter, with clearly protruding ribs, hanging down on the short flower stalk when ripe.
distribution
Aplectrum hyemale occurs in the northeastern United States and neighboring Canada. The distribution coincides roughly with that of the deciduous forests in eastern North America. The plants grow at altitudes from 0 to 1200 meters. The locations are mostly in the undergrowth of deciduous forests, brook banks and alluvial forests are settled, including peat bogs and swamps.
Systematics and botanical history
The monotypical genus Aplectrum belongs to the tribe Calypsoeae . Within this group, the closest related genera are Corallorhiza , Cremastra , Govenia and Oreorchis .
Willdenow first described the species as Cymbidium hyemale in 1805 , referring to Muhlenberg when choosing a name . The species name hyemale describes the hibernating leaf, and Willdenow suggested "Winter-Kahnlippe" as the German name. In 1818 Thomas Nuttall placed them in a different genus, Corallorhiza , but classified them there separately from other species under the heading Aplectrum . The name Aplectrum comes from the Greek, aplectron , and means "without a spur ". In some publications, Nuttall is considered the author of the genus Aplectrum , while others see a valid genre description only in John Torrey's publication of 1826. In 1971, Maekawa introduced another species to the genus Aplectrum , previously known as Cremastra unguiculata ; however, this is rejected by recent investigations.
use
Various North American Indians used the tubers for medicinal purposes. A glue could also be made from it.
literature
- Charles J. Sheviak, Paul M. Catling: Aplectrum . In: Flora of North America Editorial Committee (Ed.): Flora of North America North of Mexico . tape 26 . Oxford University Press, New York / Oxford 1993, pp. 628 ( efloras.org [accessed January 13, 2009]).
- Alec M. Pridgeon, Phillip Cribb, Mark W. Chase (Eds.): Genera Orchidacearum. Epidendroideae (Part one) . 2nd Edition. tape 4/1 . Oxford University Press, New York / Oxford 2005, ISBN 0-19-850712-7 , pp. 90-93 .
Individual evidence
- ^ Carl Ludwig von Willdenow: Species Plantarum. 4th edition Berlin 4.1805,1,107.
- ^ Thomas Nuttall: The Genera of North American Plants . Philadelphia 2.1818, 197.
- ↑ John Torrey: Compendium of the Flora of the Northern and Middle States . Harper, New York 1826, p. 322.
- ↑ Maekawa: Wild Orchids of Japan in Color . Tokyo 1971, p. 380.
