Bocks strap end

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Bocks strap end
Buck's strap tongue (Himantoglossum hircinum)

Buck's strap tongue ( Himantoglossum hircinum )

Systematics
Family : Orchids (orchidaceae)
Subfamily : Orchidoideae
Tribe : Orchideae
Sub tribus : Orchidinae
Genre : Belt Tongues ( Himantoglossum )
Type : Bocks strap end
Scientific name
Himantoglossum hircinum
( L. ) Explos.

The Bocks-belt tongue ( Himantoglossum hircinum ), also Bocksorchis called, is a striking, stately plant species from the genus of the strap ends ( Himantoglossum ) in the family of orchids (Orchidaceae), which in the warmer regions of Central Europe occurs and in recent years the spread of their area.

description

Bocks strap tongue, detail from the inflorescence

Vegetative characteristics

The buck's belt tongue is a perennial herbaceous plant that reaches heights of 25 to 100 cm, very sturdy specimens are also above it. This geophyte forms large, elongated-oval tubers as a permanent organ . The leaves are 7 to 15 cm long and about 3 to 5 cm wide. They begin to wilt even before the flowering period begins.

Generative characteristics

The inflorescence is profuse, with larger plants it can be up to over 100 flowers. The flowers have a strong smell of billy goat . The outer and inner bracts are inclined to a helmet with a greenish to brownish white color. The lip is three-lobed, wavy on the edge and whitish green with red dots at the base. The middle lobe is 3 to 6 cm long, green to brown in color. When the flower is closed, it is rolled up or folded. After it has blossomed, it is initially twisted in a spiral and later only slightly twisted. The tip is more or less deeply split. The side lobes are 10 to 15 mm long.

Chromosome number

The Bocks belt tongue has a diploid set of chromosomes with a chromosome number of 2n = 36.

ecology

The plants are generally not very long-lived. The stronger the plant, the more likely it is that it will no longer appear or only appear very weakly in the following autumn. It can bloom one to four times, in rare cases five times, before it has used up its energy reserves to the point that it dies. The number of flowering plants at their locations fluctuates more or less strongly from year to year.

The leaves shoot between the end of summer and the beginning of autumn and are largely complete by winter. This property is due to its origin in areas of Europe with a Mediterranean climate. Heavy frost occasionally leads to leaf necrosis , which, however, usually does not harm the plant if it remains in a small area.

The pollen masses of the flowers are connected to the common glue gland by yellowish stalks. Pollinators are wild bees . The flowering period begins, depending on the climate in Central Europe in warm years like 2003 already in early May. Usually it starts in mid-May and ends in mid-to-late June.

The fruits are capsules. The seeds spread like granular flyers. The orchid seed does not have any nutrient tissue available. The germination therefore only takes place in the event of infection by a root fungus (see: Mycorrhiza ). Despite the size and mass of the plant, the period from the first, dainty leaf to the adult, flowering plant is relatively short compared to smaller orchids. Fruit ripening is from August.

Occurrence

distribution

At the site: semi-arid grassland in building land in northeast Baden-Württemberg
General

The buck's strap tongue is widespread from the western Mediterranean region to Central Europe , it is rare in places, but can also occur very numerous. It is a floral element of the west and central Mediterranean, west sub-Mediterranean, south and central Atlantic, south sub-Atlantic and south-central European florins. According to Baumann and Künkele , the species has the following altitude limits in the Alpine countries: Germany 110–890 meters, France 0–1600 meters, Switzerland 260–815 meters, Italy 75–1880 meters. In Europe it rises to 1880 meters above sea level in Sicily, and up to 1800 meters in Morocco.

Germany

In Germany, the Bocks strap tongue occurs mainly in Baden-Württemberg , Rhineland-Palatinate , Saarland and Northern Bavaria . There are few locations in Hesse , Thuringia , southern Lower Saxony and Saxony-Anhalt . The species spreads slowly but steadily northwards. With the North Eifel-Thuringia line, it reaches roughly the northern limit of its area. It is very rare in Central Europe, but it usually occurs in loose, smaller populations where it is found. In the mountains it hardly rises above 800 m.

Switzerland

In Switzerland, the Bocks-Riemenzunge is widespread from Lake Constance along the Rhine, on to Lake Neuchâtel and Lake Geneva with gaps. Coming from there, it has spread up the Rhone Valley at very few sites.

Locations

Dry grass , poor grass , orchards on more or less steep slopes facing west, south or east are preferred . It can also be found on areas that are not well-kept and not overly bushed. Occasionally it also grows in dense but light bushes with mossy soil. It can also quickly gain a foothold in abandoned vineyards that still have a ruderal character and whose soils are still sufficiently low in nitrogen.

The Bocks belt tongue needs lime-rich, very loose and therefore often stony loam soil. It occurs only in areas with a mild climate, where late frosts are rare.

Plant communities

  • Association Mesobromion
  • Association of Geranion sanguinei

Conservation and endangerment

Protection status:
Fully protected in Germany.

RL Germany : 3
RL Baden-Württemberg : 3, Saxony-Anhalt : 1, Thuringia : 2, Hesse : 2, Rhineland-Palatinate : 3, Bavaria : 2, Saarland : 2

An increased spread of this species has been observed since the 1990s. The reason is global warming . It has now created more suitable climatic conditions in areas where winters were previously too severe. In the past, plants have been sporadically observed there, but most of them disappeared again and could not build stable populations. Very cold winters with little snow can cause the occurrences in the peripheral areas of their range to shrink again.

In order to make the public aware that it is worthy of protection, the Bocks strap tongue was voted “ Orchid of the Year ” by the Working Groups Home Orchids (AHO) in 1999 .

Taxonomy

The valid name is Himantoglossum hircinum (L.) Spreng. Carl von Linné described it in 1753 under the Basionym Satyrium hircinum L.

Today, satyrium is the generic name of an orchid mainly found in southern Africa.

Synonyms

The following synonyms exist :

  • Orchis hircina (L.) Crantz
  • Loroglossum hircinum (L.) Rich.
  • Aceras hircinum (L.) Lindl.

Subspecies

Different types of strap endings were counted as subspecies of this species in the past , but now these have their own species status.

Origin of name

The name Himantoglossum is derived from the Greek words ίμάς himas = belt, γλώσσα glossa = tongue and hircinum from the Latin hircus = billy goat.

The German name basically means nothing else than the botanical name: belt tongue that smells of buck. In addition, there are or were the designations: Bocksgeil ( Alsace ), Bockshödlein (Alsace) and Geilwurz (Alsace).

Picture gallery

  • Stately plant with a height of about 1 m

  • Flowers open differently

  • Frozen rosette of leaves in winter

  • Particularly vigorous, tall plant

  • Inflorescence in full bloom, June 12, 1999 in Thuringia

  • Single flower, June 12, 1999, Thuringia

  • Himantoglossum hircinum
    Illustration in:
    Otto Wilhelm Thomé: Flora of Germany, Austria and Switzerland. Gera 1885

See also

literature

Standard literature on orchids:

  • Working groups local orchids (ed.): The orchids of Germany. Working groups of domestic orchids, Uhlstädt-Kirchhasel 2005, ISBN 3-00-014853-1 .
  • Helmut Baumann, Siegfried Künkele: The wild growing orchids of Europe. Franckh, Stuttgart 1982, ISBN 3-440-05068-8 .
  • Karl Peter Buttler : Orchids. The wild growing species and subspecies of Europe, the Middle East and North Africa (= Steinbach's natural guide. 15). Mosaik, Munich 1986, ISBN 3-570-04403-3 .
  • Robert L. Dressler: The orchids - biology and systematics of the Orchidaceae (original title: The Orchids. Natural History and Classification. Harvard University Press, Cambridge, Mass. Et al. 1981). Translated by Guido J. Braem with the assistance of Marion Zerbst. Bechtermünz, Augsburg 1996, ISBN 3-86047-413-8 (good work on the subject of systematics).
  • Hans Sundermann : European and Mediterranean orchids. 2nd Edition. Brücke, Hildesheim 1975, ISBN 3-87105-010-5 .
  • John G. Williams, Andrew E. Williams, Norman Arlott: Orchids of Europe with North Africa and Asia Minor (= BLV determination book. 25). Translated, edited and supplemented by Karl-Peter Buttler and Angelika Rommel. BLV, Munich / Bern / Vienna 1979, ISBN 3-405-11901-4 .
  • Hans R. Reinhard u. a .: The orchids of Switzerland and neighboring areas. Fotorotar, Egg 1991, ISBN 3-905647-01-X .

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Ruprecht Düll , Herfried Kutzelnigg : Pocket dictionary of the plants of Germany and neighboring countries. The most common Central European species in portrait . 7th, corrected and enlarged edition. Quelle & Meyer, Wiebelsheim 2011, ISBN 978-3-494-01424-1 .
  2. ^ Karl Peter Buttler : Orchids. The wild growing species and subspecies of Europe, the Middle East and North Africa (= Steinbach's natural guide. 15). Mosaik, Munich 1986, ISBN 3-570-04403-3 .
  3. ↑ a b Helmut Baumann , Siegfried Künkele : Orchidaceae . In: Oskar Sebald u. a .: The fern and flowering plants of Baden-Württemberg. 1st edition Volume 8, page 403. Verlag Eugen Ulmer, Stuttgart 1998. ISBN 3-8001-3359-8
  4. ↑ a b Dietmar Aichele, Heinz-Werner Schwegler: The flowering plants of Central Europe . 2nd Edition. tape 5 : Swan flowers to duckweed plants . Franckh-Kosmos, Stuttgart 2000, ISBN 3-440-08048-X .
  5. ^ Georg August Pritzel , Carl Jessen : The German folk names of plants. New contribution to the German linguistic treasure. Philipp Cohen, Hannover 1882, p. 5 ( online ).

Web links

Commons : Bocks-Riemenzunge ( Himantoglossum hircinum )  - album with pictures, videos and audio files

Distribution maps

Regional links