Distylium racemosum
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Distylium racemosum |
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| Siebold & Zucc. |
Distylium racemosum or the common double pen is a species of the witch hazel family(Hamamelidaceae). It is located in China, Taiwan, Korea and Japan. Their hard wood is used.
description
Appearance, bark and leaf
Distylium racemosum grows as an evergreen tree or shrub that reaches heights of up to 2–3 m (up to 20 m). The bark of young twigs is covered with star hair, later it becomes dark brown and bare. The brownish bark is relatively smooth to fine furrowed.
The alternate leaves arranged on the branches are divided into a petiole and a leaf blade. The 5 to 10 mm long petiole is sparsely covered with star hair. The simple, leathery and thick, bald leaf blade is egg-shaped to elliptical, lanceolate or obovate with a pointed blade base and a more or less pointed or with a length of 3 to 7 cm and a width of 1.5 to 3.5 cm rounded tip, the leaf margin is whole. There are five or six lateral nerves on each side of the main nerve and the network nerves are barely recognizable on either side of the leaf. There are stipules present.
Inflorescence and flower
The flowering period extends from April to June. In Distylium racemosum is Andromonözie present, there are male and hermaphrodite flowers on a copy. The lateral inflorescence is glabrous. The bracts are lanceolate with a length of 2 to 3 mm.
The flowers have no bracts , they are usually underlaid by bracts. The stamens have only 1.5 to 2 mm long filaments and conspicuous, large red anthers. Two carpels are an upper continuous, two-chambered ovary adherent, which is covered with star woolly hair. There is only one ovule in each fruit chamber . There are two free, approximate and slender, 6 to 7 mm long styles with long, tapering and red stigmas , which are also later visible on the fruit; hence the generic name Distylium , which is derived from the Greek words dis for “two” and stylos for “stylus”.
Fruit and seeds
The fruit stalks are shorter than 2 mm. Woody, 1 to 1.3 cm long, brownish and egg-shaped capsule fruits with the long stylus at the tip are formed, which are covered with fluffy star hairs. The two-compartment capsule fruit contains only one seed in each compartment. The seeds are ovate with a length of 4 to 5 mm. The fruits ripen between June and August.
Occurrence
Distylium racemosum is native to the Chinese provinces of Fujian , Hainan and Zhejiang, as well as Korea , Japan ( Ryūkyū Islands ) and Taiwan . It thrives in forests at altitudes between 1000 and 1300 meters.
Systematics
The genus Distylium was established in 1835 with the type species Distylium racemosum by Philipp Franz von Siebold and Joseph Gerhard Zuccarini in Flora Japonica , 1, p. 179 and this species was first described .
use
As Sunuke is wood from Distylium Racemosum referred to in Japan Isu no ki ( 蚊母樹 called). It is a very slow growing hardwood from Japan . Because of its good properties (high strength) it is used in the manufacture of Japanese wooden swords ( Bokutō , Bokken). Due to the slow growth and rarity of Sunuke wood, the purchase price is relatively high. Sunuke is made from the heartwood.
The hard, fine-grained dark brown wood is very valuable. It is used to make small items and musical instruments . The wood ash is used to glaze porcelain .
More pictures
Trunk and bark
Branches with simple leaves
swell
- Zhi-Yun Zhang, Hongda Zhang & Peter K. Endress: Hamamelidaceae in der Flora of China , Volume 9, 2003, p. 29: Distylium racemosum - online (section description).
Individual evidence
- ↑ First description scanned .
- ^ Distylium racemosum at Tropicos.org. Missouri Botanical Garden, St. Louis
- ↑ Entry in Plants for A Future .
Web links
- Distylium racemosum from Tropengarten, accessed on September 23, 2019.
- Distylium racemosum from Baumkunde, accessed on September 23, 2019.