Brabejum stellatifolium
| Brabejum stellatifolium | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Almond-shaped fruits and leathery leaves of Brabejum stellatifolium |
||||||||||||
| Systematics | ||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||
| Scientific name of the genus | ||||||||||||
| Brabejum | ||||||||||||
| L. | ||||||||||||
| Scientific name of the species | ||||||||||||
| Brabejum stellatifolium | ||||||||||||
| L. |
Brabejum stellatifolium is (confusingly also called wild almond or bitter almond), the only species of the genus Brabejum in the family of proteaceae (Proteaceae).
Description and ecology
The evergreen Brabejum stellatifolium usually grows as a large, spreading, multi-stemmed shrub with heights of up to 5 meters or as a tree with heights of up to 15 meters. The thick, smooth bark is light grayish-brown with attractive stripes and spots. The foliage leaves , usually arranged in a star shape in whorls on the branches, are leathery. Young leaves are hairy rusty brown. The leaf margin is serrated irregularly.
The flowering time is in summer from December to January. The racemose inflorescence is about 8 cm long. The sweet smelling, hermaphrodite flowers are about 5 mm long. The petals are white. There is only one stamen circle .
The almond-shaped fruits, thickly covered with rust-colored to chocolate-brown hair, have a length of 45 mm and a diameter of 30 mm and are poisonous (contain cyanogenic glycosides ). The fruits ripen in late summer to autumn in February to May. The fruits spread by floating on the surface of the water.
distribution
Brabejum stellatifolium occurs in South Africa only in the Capensis in the fynbos at altitudes between 0 and 1000 meters.
Systematics
The genus Brabejum was established in 1753 with the first publication of Brabejum stellatifolium by Carl von Linné in Species Plantarum , 1, p. 121. There is also the incorrect spelling of Brabeium . Brabejum stellatifolium is the only species of the genus Brabejum in the family of proteaceae (Proteaceae).
The generic name Brabejum is derived from the Greek word brabeion for scepter and could refer to the inflorescence, but brabeion is also the word for a price in Delphi when it was crowned with laurel , and could therefore also refer to the leathery leaves. The specific epithet stellatifolium refers to the leaves arranged in a star shape on the branches.
More pictures
Habitus .
Leaves arranged in a whorl.
Inflorescences.
Habit, leaves and fruits.
swell
Web links
- Photos at Plantweb - South African Plants .
- Kirstenbosch tour . ( Memento from July 23, 2008 in the Internet Archive )