French earth chestnut

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French earth chestnut
French earth chestnut (Conopodium majus), illustration

French earth chestnut (Conopodium majus), illustration

Systematics
Order : Umbelliferae (Apiales)
Family : Umbelliferae (Apiaceae)
Subfamily : Apioideae
Tribe : Scandiceae
Genre : Conopodium
Type : French earth chestnut
Scientific name
Conopodium majus
( Gouan ) Loret

The French earth chestnut ( Conopodium majus ) is a species of the umbelliferae family (Apiaceae).

description

Vegetative characteristics

French earth chestnut ( Conopodium majus )
Leaves of the chestnut in spring

The French chestnut grows as a perennial herbaceous plant and reaches heights of 20 to 60 centimeters, exceptionally up to 90 centimeters. Its subterranean tuber resembles a chestnut, it is the size of a pea to hazelnut and breaks off easily. The bare and hollow stem is leafless and curved in the lower part.

The stem leaves, triangular in outline, are two to three pinnate. The last-order leaflets of the basal leaves are elliptical to oval and often briefly rough-bristled, while those of the stem leaves are linear to thread-like. The leaf sheaths of the middle and upper leaves are 1 to 8 millimeters long and less than a quarter as long as the leaf blade.

Generative characteristics

The flowering period extends from May to June. The umbellate inflorescences are six to twelve pointed. The envelopes have zero to two, the envelopes three to five narrow, white-edged, often obsolete leaflets. The husk leaves are shorter than the fruit stalks. The petals are white.

The elongated, egg-shaped fruits are up to 3 to 4 millimeters long and compressed on the sides. They are black at maturity. The main ribs of the fruit are thready and very slightly protruding. The stylopodium is as long as it is wide. The styles are upright or upright, but not pressed against the stylopodium.

The number of chromosomes is 2n = 22.

Occurrence

The French earth chestnut occurs in Portugal , Spain , France including Corsica , Belgium , Luxembourg , Great Britain, Ireland , Italy including Sicily and Norway . In Germany, Denmark and Sweden it is considered a neophyte . The French earth chestnut thrives on fresh meadows and pastures in Europe in acidic, poor grass communities, in heaths and sparse forests.

Taxonomy and systematics

A synonym of Conopodium majus (Gouan) Loret is Conopodium denudatum W.DJKoch .

One can distinguish between two subspecies:

  • Conopodium majus subsp. majus : It occurs in Spain, Italy, France, Ireland, Great Britain and as a neophyte also in Germany.
  • Conopodium majus subsp. marizianum (Samp.) López-Udias & Mateo : It occurs in Spain and Portugal.

literature

  • Erich Oberdorfer : Plant-sociological excursion flora for Germany and neighboring areas . 8th edition. Stuttgart, Verlag Eugen Ulmer, 2001. Page 710. ISBN 3-8001-3131-5
  • PW Ball: Conopodium Koch . In: TG Tutin, VH Heywood, NA Burges, DM Moore, DH Valentine, SM Walters, DA Webb (eds.): Flora Europaea . Volume 2: Rosaceae to Umbelliferae . Cambridge University Press, Cambridge 1968, ISBN 0-521-06662-X , pp. 1329–1330 (English, limited preview in Google Book Search).
  • Albert Thellt : Umbelliferae . In Gustav Hegi : Illustrated Flora of Central Europe . Volume V.2. 1st edition. Munich 1926, pages 1195-1196. (Description)

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Conopodium majus at Tropicos.org. In: IPCN Chromosome Reports . Missouri Botanical Garden, St. Louis
  2. ↑ a b c R. Hand (2011): Apiaceae. Conopodium majus In: Euro + Med Plantbase - the information resource for Euro-Mediterranean plant diversity. Berlin 2011.

Web links

Commons : French earth chestnut (Conopodium majus)  - Collection of images, videos and audio files