Commiphora myrrha

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Commiphora myrrha
Illustration from Koehler's Medicinal Plants - Myrrh - Commiphora myrrha: A) Part of a leafy branch in natural size; B) branch end with fruits, the like; 1 sheet, enlarged; 2 male flowers of Bals. Ehrenbergianum, after Berg, the like; 3 female flowers of the same species, also after Berg, the like; 4 and 5 fruit, natural Size.

Illustration from Koehler's Medicinal Plants - Myrrh - Commiphora myrrha : A) Part of a leafy branch in natural size; B) branch end with fruits, the like; 1 sheet, enlarged; 2 male flowers of Bals. Ehrenbergianum, after Berg, the like; 3 female flowers of the same species, also after Berg, the like; 4 and 5 fruit, natural Size.

Systematics
Eurosiden II
Order : Sapindales (Sapindales)
Family : Balsam family (Burseraceae)
Tribe : Bursereae
Genre : Commiphora
Type : Commiphora myrrha
Scientific name
Commiphora myrrha
( Nees ) Engl.
resin

Commiphora myrrha is a species ofthe balsam tree family (Burseraceae). The original homeland is northeastern Kenya , eastern Ethiopia , Djibouti , Somalia and on the Arabian Peninsula Oman and Yemen . From its resin which is Myrrh won.

description

Commiphora myrrha is particularly variable in terms of the leaves.

Appearance, bark, resin and leaf

Commiphora myrrha grows as a deciduous, sturdy, thorny shrub or small tree with gnarled branches, usually with only one short trunk and reaches heights of up to 4 meters. The outer silvery, whitish or bluish-gray, smooth bark peels off in large parchment-like pieces and the greener lower, smooth bark becomes visible. A hard, translucent, yellowish gum resin is created from the liquid, hardly fragrant exudate .

The leathery leaves standing together on long and short shoots are divided into petioles and leaf blades. The petiole 1 to 10 mm long. The leaf blade is threefold, with a large terminal leaflet and two smaller to tiny lateral leaflets, or reduced to the terminal leaflet. The leathery pinnate leaves are grayish-green to blue-green and very variable in size and shape. With a length of 6 to 44 mm and a width of 3 to 20 mm, the leaflets can be elliptical, spatulate or lanceolate with a pointed, heart-shaped, rounded or truncated base and a rounded or pointed upper end. The leaf margins are smooth or serrated. There are three to four only faintly recognizable leaf veins .

Inflorescence, flower, fruit and seeds

The flowering time is just before the rainy season . Commiphora myrrha is dioeciously segregated ( dioecious ) and metagynous (the male flowers ripen first). The unisexual, yellowish-greenish flowers are four-fold. Two to four male flowers stand together over a light brown, very small bract in dichasial, zymous inflorescences . The inflorescence axis is often hairy sparsely glandular. Its approximately 4 mm long, reddish and four-pointed flower base is calyx-shaped. Your four petals are elongated with a length of about 4.5 mm and a width of about 1.5 mm and pointed at the upper end.

One or two smooth, greenish-reddish stone fruits stand together on a stem. With a length of about 12-16 mm and 6-8 mm width, the ovoid and flattened fruits are beaked. When the fruits are ripe, they split into two parts, revealing the single seed. The brown, 6-9 mm long seeds have an orange, brightly colored, fleshy, smooth appendage, also called Pseudo arillus .

Occurrence

The natural distribution area extends from northeastern Kenya through eastern Ethiopia , Djibouti and Somalia to the Arabian Peninsula in Oman and Yemen .

Commiphora myrrha is mostly found in open Acacia , Commiphora bushes. It usually grows in flat soils mainly over sandstone . Commiphora myrrha thrives at altitudes between 250 and 1300 meters with annual rainfall of 230 to 300 mm.

Taxonomy

It was first described in 1828 under the name ( Basionym ) Balsamodendrum myrrha by Theodor Friedrich Ludwig Nees von Esenbeck in Plantae Medicinales or Collection of Official Plants , 1, Plate 357. The new combination to Commiphora myrrha was made in 1883 by Heinrich Gustav Adolf Engler in Alphonse Pyrame de Candolle and Anne Casimir Pyrame de Candolle : Monographiae Phanerogamarum , Volume 4, p. 10 published. Other synonyms for Commiphora myrrha ( Nees ) Engl. Are: Commiphora molmol ( Engl. ) Engl. , Commiphora myrrha var. Molmol Engl. The generic name Commiphora is derived from the Greek words kommis for resin and phora for containing.

use

See under myrrh .

literature

Web links

Commons : Commiphora myrrha  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c Commiphora myrrha in the Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN), USDA , ARS , National Genetic Resources Program. National Germplasm Resources Laboratory, Beltsville, Maryland. Retrieved June 20, 2013.
  2. ↑ a b c d e f g data sheet at AgroForestryTree Database (PDF).
  3. ↑ Shahina A. Ghazanfar: Handbook of Arabian Medicinal Plants. CRC Press, 1994, ISBN 0-8493-0539-X , p. 65.
  4. ↑ Mohamed Neffati, Hanen Najjaa, Ákos Máthé: Medicinal and Aromatic Plants of the World - Africa. Vol. 3, Springer, 2017, ISBN 978-94-024-1119-5 , p. 56.
  5. ^ Desmond Mahony: Trees of Somalia. Oxfam, 1991, 1994, ISBN 978-0-8559-8109-9 , p. 41.
  6. ↑ New combination scanned at biodiversitylibrary.org .
  7. ↑ Commiphora myrrha at Tropicos.org. Missouri Botanical Garden, St. Louis, accessed June 20, 2013.