Spear flowers

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Spear flowers
Doryanthes excelsa, illustration

Doryanthes excelsa , illustration

Systematics
Subdivision : Seed plants (Spermatophytina)
Class : Bedecktsamer (Magnoliopsida)
Monocots
Order : Asparagales (Asparagales)
Family : Doryanthaceae
Genre : Spear flowers
Scientific name of the  family
Doryanthaceae
R.Dahlgren & H.Clifford
Scientific name of the  genus
Doryanthes
Corrêa

Spearflowers ( Doryanthes ), also called flame lilies , is the only genus of the monotypic family of Doryanthaceae within the monocot plants (Liliopsida), there are only three species in the genus or family. It has areas only in eastern Australia in the provinces of Queensland and New South Wales . They are also used as ornamental plants.

description

They are very large, perennial herbaceous plants that develop rosettes. The plants form tubers as survival organs. The sessile leaves are simple, linear and have parallel veins.

The inflorescences are branched and have many bracts . Brood tubers are sometimes formed on the inflorescences. The large, hermaphrodite, more or less zygomorphic flowers are threefold and 10 to 15 cm long. The six identical bloom cladding sheets ( tepals ) are not grown together. There are six stamens . The three pistils have become an under constant ovary grown. They are pollinated by birds ( ornithophilia ) and for this, as is usual with bird-pollinated plants, they produce a lot of nectar (with Doryanthes palmeri up to 10 ml per day). They provide the birds with landing and seating areas; such species are ecologically referred to as "seat bird flowers". They form three-chamber capsule fruits . The seeds can be winged or wingless.

Mass blooming is observed after bushfires , the spear flowers survive unscathed thanks to their tubers.

species

There are two species in the genus Doryanthes :

  • Doryanthes excelsa Corrêa : It occurs only in eastern New South Wales;
  • Doryanthes palmeri W. Hill ex Benth. : It occurs from southeast Queensland to northeast New South Wales.

photos

Doryanthes excelsa :

  • Sword-shaped leaves

  • Habit and young inflorescences

  • inflorescence

swell

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Rafaël Govaerts (Ed.): Doryanthes. In: World Checklist of Selected Plant Families (WCSP) - The Board of Trustees of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew . Retrieved October 9, 2014.

Web links

Commons : Spearflowers  - Collection of images, videos and audio files