Milk lettuce

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Milk lettuce
Alpine milk lettuce (Cicerbita alpina)

Alpine milk lettuce ( Cicerbita alpina )

Systematics
Euasterids II
Order : Astern-like (Asterales)
Family : Daisy family (Asteraceae)
Subfamily : Cichorioideae
Tribe : Cichorieae
Genre : Milk lettuce
Scientific name
Cicerbita
Wallr.

The cicerbita ( Cicerbita ) are a genus within the family of the daisy family (Asteraceae).

description

Illustration of the alpine milk lettuce ( Cicerbita alpina )
Detail of an inflorescence with flower heads from Cicerbita bourgaei , the two branches of the style are clearly visible
Flower baskets in detail of the large-leaved milk lettuce ( Cicerbita macrophylla ), the crown tongues with the five crown teeth and the two stylus branches are clearly visible

Vegetative characteristics

Milk lettuce species are annual, biennial or perennial herbaceous plants that can reach heights of 1 meter, sometimes even more. The plant parts carry milky sap .

The roots arise secondarily from the rhizome . The stalk, which is always hairy, is unbranched in the lower area, further up, in the area of ​​the inflorescences , it branches out. Depending on the species, the lower foliage leaves are usually large and pinnate with a triangular end lobe that is significantly larger than the side lobes or is undivided. The leaf margins can be serrated.

Generative characteristics

The cup-shaped partial inflorescences stand together in a racemose or paniculate overall inflorescence . The individual baskets are surrounded by two rows of bracts , the outer row being shorter. The bracts surround the widened inflorescence axis (this always hairless) on which the flowers are arranged.

The flowers are mostly hermaphroditic (at least the flowers in the center of the flower head, the outer ones can also be purely female). The flowers are five-fold with a double flower envelope ( sepals , petals ). There are different colors of flowers: yellow, blue or white. There are only ray florets, they are zygomorphic . The sepals are scaled down. The petals are fused into a tube in the lower part, the upper part is elongated in the shape of a ribbon or tongue and ends with five small teeth. The five stamens have free stamens , but the anthers are fused together and surround the stylus annular. Two carpels have become an under constant ovary grown. The only stylus has two stylus branches.

The spindle-shaped achenes have one to three longitudinal veins on the outside and have a white pappus . The pappus consists of two rows: an inner one from hair and an outer one from short eyelashes. The achenes are not beaked (in contrast to the similar genus Lactuca ).

ecology

Most lettuce species stem hemicryptophytes , that is, the hibernating buds lie on the surface of the earth and form a long stem.

Habit, leaves and inflorescences of Cicerbita bourgaei
Section of an inflorescence with flower heads of French milk lettuce ( Cicerbita plumieri )
Habit and infructescence of French milk lettuce ( Cicerbita plumieri )

Systematics, botanical history and distribution

The genus Cicerbita was established in 1822 by Karl Friedrich Wallroth , who separated it from the genus Sonchus because of the differently shaped pappus . For the name Cicerbita There are two explanations: from the Latin cicer (chickpea), related to the small fruits, or from Cicharba , the name of a medicinal plant, which already at the factory De medicamentis of Marcellus Empiricus appears.

The name Mulgedium was in use for a long time, established by Alexandre Henri Gabriel de Cassini in 1824 ; it is still used by some authors. The name mulgedium comes from mulgere , "milking", and refers to the milky sap of the plants.

The genus Cicerbita belongs to the tribe Cichorieae in the subfamily Cichorioideae within the family of Asteraceae .

The genus Cicerbita Wallr. is placed in the genus Lactuca L. by some authors . Synonyms for Cicerbita Wallr. are: Mycelis Cass. , Cephalorrhynchus bois. , Galathenium Nutt.

The milk lettuce species are common in Europe, temperate Asia, North America and North Africa.

In the genus of milk lettuce ( Cicerbita ) there are 20 to 30 species (selection):

The following hybrids occur:

  • Cicerbita × favratii Wilczek - the parent species are Cicerbita alpina and Cicerbita plumieri .

use

Some types of milk lettuce are used as food. One species ( Cicerbita thianschanica ) is sometimes used as an ornamental plant.

literature

  • Giacomo Nicolini: Enciclopedia Botanica . tape 3 . Federico Motta, Milan 1960, p. 21 .
  • Sandro Pignatti (ed.): Flora d'Italia . Vol. 3. Edagricole, Bologna 2003, ISBN 88-506-2449-2 , pp. 261 (third unaltered reprint of the 1st edition from 1982).

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d e f g Werner Greuter (2006+): Compositae (pro parte majore). In: W. Greuter, E. von Raab-Straube (Ed.): Compositae. : Lactuca data sheet In: Euro + Med Plantbase - the information resource for Euro-Mediterranean plant diversity.
  2. ^ Cicerbita in the Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN), USDA , ARS , National Genetic Resources Program. National Germplasm Resources Laboratory, Beltsville, Maryland. Retrieved July 9, 2016.
  3. ↑ a b c d e f g h i Zhu Shi, Norbert Kilian: Cicerbita , pp. 214–216 - online with the same text as the printed work , In: Wu Zheng-yi, Peter H. Raven, Deyuan Hong (ed.): Flora of China , Volume 20-21: Asteraceae. Science Press and Missouri Botanical Garden Press, Beijing and St. Louis 2011, ISBN 978-1-935641-07-0 .

Web links

Commons : Lettuce ( Cicerbita )  - Collection of images, videos and audio files