Common milkweed
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Common Milkweed ( Asclepias syriaca ) |
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The Common milkweed , also Syrian Milkweed or True milkweed ( Asclepias syriaca ) is a plant species in the subfamily of asclepiadoideae (Asclepiadoideae) within the family of Hundsgiftgewächse (Apocynaceae). It is sold commercially under the name parrot plant or parrot tree. The common name Canadian milkweed is also used in German-speaking countries .
features
The common milkweed is a perennial herbaceous plant that reaches heights of 1 to 2 meters. A tap root and a rhizome are formed. The light green, upright and finely haired stem is rarely branched and partly reddish. All parts of the plant contain a poisonous milky sap .
The cross-opposite leaves are short-stalked, 15 to 30 cm long and 5 to 11 cm wide. The leaf blade is elliptical to ovate. The underside of the leaf is hairy with short felts. The leaf margin is smooth, the tip is rounded or rounded to blunt and often finely pointed.
20 to 130 strongly scented flowers are grouped together in dold-like inflorescences . The stalked flowers are hermaphroditic. The crown is pink to purple-white, greenish. The hat-shaped corolla segments with horns on the inside are oblong-egg-shaped and 3 to 5 millimeters long.
The fruit stalks are curved downwards. The green-brownish, oblong-egg-shaped follicles are 8 to 15 cm long and horn-pointed. The fruit surface is soft thorny, the follicles contain numerous seeds. The flat, 6 to 10 mm long, oval and orange-brown, short-winged seeds have a silky head of hair.
Flower ecology
When taking nectar, insects get their legs into pinch traps of the gynostegium , an intergrowth product of gynoeceum and androeceum ; when they are released from the trap, pollinia attach to their legs .
Occurrence
The common milkweed is found in fields, meadows and roadsides in eastern North America. This species is wild in Europe.
In Austria the species occurs in Lower Austria and inconsistently in Burgenland and Vienna . It serves or served here as an ornamental and bee pasture plant and also as an experimental plant for the production of fibers and rubber. In the Pannonian area the species is often overgrown from cultures and is considered naturalized in certain areas.
The plant was included in the black list of invasive neophytes in Switzerland because of its potential for spreading and the damage it causes in the areas of biodiversity , health and economy .
use
The common milkweed is rarely used as an ornamental plant in perennial beds, as a forage plant for bees and as a cushioning material to obtain the seed hair. In the past, experiments were carried out on its use as a fiber and rubber plant . The species has been in culture since 1629 at the latest.
The still green fruit is marketed as a decorative object due to its similarity to budgies or small parrots. The fruit is cut from the plant, leaving the stem on the follicle. Two black dots are glued to the smaller thickening of the fruit on both sides, imitating the eyes. Then you hang the fruit on a thread, rotated 180 degrees to its preferred direction of growth. In markets you can find these decorative objects hanging on the edge of a bowl filled with water.
photos
Follicles
inflorescence
blossoms
Habitus
Opening, ripe follicle fruit
supporting documents
- Scott Hagood: Asclepias syriaca - Description and pictures at Virginia Tech Weed Identification Guide . (English)
- Eckehart J. Jäger, Friedrich Ebel, Peter Hanelt, Gerd K. Müller (eds.): Rothmaler excursion flora from Germany. Volume 5: Herbaceous ornamental and useful plants . Spectrum Academic Publishing House, Berlin Heidelberg 2008, ISBN 978-3-8274-0918-8 .
- Description and pictures of the species.
- Carl von Linné: Species Plantarum . Volume 2, 1st edition, Lars Salvius, Stockholm 1753 (description of A. syriaca on p. 214) online at botanicus.org
Web links
- Asclepias syriaca L., Milkweed. In: FloraWeb.de.
- Common milkweed . In: BiolFlor, the database of biological-ecological characteristics of the flora of Germany.
- Asclepias syriaca L. In: Info Flora , the national data and information center for Swiss flora . Retrieved January 27, 2016.
- Thomas Meyer: Data sheet with identification key and photos at Flora-de: Flora von Deutschland (old name of the website: Flowers in Swabia )
Individual evidence
- ^ Georg August Pritzel , Carl Jessen : The German folk names of plants. New contribution to the German linguistic treasure. Philipp Cohen, Hannover 1882, p. 47, archive.org .
- ↑ IMF Knowledge and Media: Asclepias syriaca (Asclepiadaceae) - Effect of the clamp trap for pollination . ( Page no longer available , search in web archives ) Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ^ Manfred A. Fischer, Karl Oswald, Wolfgang Adler: Excursion flora for Austria, Liechtenstein and South Tyrol . 3rd, improved edition. Province of Upper Austria, Biology Center of the Upper Austrian State Museums, Linz 2008, ISBN 978-3-85474-187-9 , p. 713 .
- ^ Federal Office for the Environment FOEN: Invasive Alien Species . ( admin.ch [accessed on August 6, 2019]).
- ↑ S. Buholzer, M. Nobis, N. Schoenenberger, S. Rometsch: List of the alien invasive plants of Switzerland . Ed .: Infoflora. ( infoflora.ch [accessed on August 6, 2019]).
