Glandular balsam

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Glandular balsam
Glandular balsam (Impatiens glandulifera)

Glandular balsam ( Impatiens glandulifera )

Systematics
Nuclear eudicotyledons
Asterids
Order : Heather-like (Ericales)
Family : Balsamin family (Balsaminaceae)
Genre : Spring herbs ( Impatiens )
Type : Glandular balsam
Scientific name
Impatiens glandulifera
Royle

The glandular balsam ( Impatiens glandulifera ), often Indian balsam , also red balsam or Himalayan balsam , formerly also called farmer orchid or giant balsam , is a species of the balsam family (Balsaminaceae). Its original range is on the Indian subcontinent ; As an ornamental plant it was naturalized in North America and Europe in the 19th century. In Central Europe it grows mainly in moist forests, floodplains and banks with a high nutrient content.

In Europe, the Indian balsam is fought as an invasive neophyte in many places , as it is seen as a threat to other plant species, even entire plant communities in their habitat.

description

Habit and inflorescences
atypically thin stem and typical threefold leaf whorl of the glandular balsam
Capsule fruit bursting open
Cracked capsule fruit
Glandular balsam proliferates in a forest in Upper Bavaria

Vegetative characteristics

The glandular balsam is an annual herbaceous plant . The plant has quite shallow roots (up to a maximum of 20 centimeters) with thousands of the finest roots. The thick but hollow stems branch out abundantly at the top.

The many predominantly threefold whorled leaves are divided into petiole and leaf blade. The petiole is 30 to 35 millimeters long. The simple leaf blade is 6 to 25 millimeters long and 18 to 65 millimeters wide and lanceolate, sharply toothed, but soft. There are unpleasant-smelling glands on the leaf stalk and base.

Generative characteristics

The upright, racemose inflorescence is extensively branched. The purple, pink or white, strongly sweet-scented flowers are 3 to 4 centimeters long and hang loosely on a thin flower stalk from the axilla of a glandular leaf. The flowering period extends from June to October (at the latest until the first frost). Buds, flowers and ripe capsule fruits are often present on a plant at the same time.

The hermaphrodite flowers are zygomorphic with a double flower envelope . Of the three sepals , the lower one is petal-like and spurred. The upper one of the five petals is larger than the rest, they are fused in pairs.

The capsule fruits are usually 14 to 18, rarely up to 50 millimeters long. The spherical seeds have a diameter of about 3 millimeters.

The number of chromosomes is 2n = 18 or 20.

ecology

The glandular balsam is a therophyte that can grow to heights of over 2 meters in a very short time and thus quickly cover other plants. It needs an adequate water supply for its rapid growth.

The inflorescence is said to be insect-friendly. From an ecological point of view, these are pre- male pharynx flowers . They are mostly pollinated by honey bees , more rarely by bumblebees . The nectar hidden in the spur is on average sweet with a sugar content of 48 percent, but is produced in abundance. With 0.47 mg nectar per plant and per hour, the glandular balsam produces around forty times as much nectar as a comparable native plant. It is even more important that the plant can also offer very high quality, also sugary pollen . With this equipment and its intense scent, it severely limits the possibility of sexual reproduction among its local competitors, especially since bumblebees have a particularly good long-term memory for good food sources. Also, self-pollination is possible, but because of the pronounced Vormännlichkeit rare.

By means of a centrifugal mechanism that can be triggered by raindrops, the fruits throw their seeds up to seven meters away ( juice pressure spreader ). A plant produces around 1,600 to 4,300 seeds, whose germination capacity (around 80 percent) remains for several years. Up to 32,000 seeds per square meter of soil can occur in pure stands. The capsule fruits, when they are ripe, eject the seeds like small pellets with the slightest pressure or vibration (for example from passing trucks). The sides of the capsule fruit are elastic and roll back like tiny, writhing snakes.

As long distance dispersal also comes Klebausbreitung and water spreading into question by wandering river sand and river gravel. Parts of plants torn off by floods can take root in the ground after landing and form new plants. After all, humans have also promoted the spread of the species over the past 30 to 50 years. Initially, the glandular balsam was imported from the East Indian homeland as a garden plant, occasionally also because of the abundant nectar produced as a beehive plant. The species came to England in 1839 and was then cultivated in many European gardens.

Furthermore, silver willow bushes were converted into poplar forests during this time . In these forests found on disturbed soil, e.g. B. in floodplains along the streams and rivers, the balsam populations optimal growth conditions. This resulted in dominant stocks with a coverage of 75 to 100 percent. Even stocks of the great nettle ( Urtica dioica ) have occasionally been displaced.

Occurrence

The distribution of this plant species extends today from the Indian subcontinent and the Himalayas over Europe to North America .

Indian balsam was initially used as an ornamental plant , but it has been completely naturalized in large parts of the world for about 50 years, especially in willow floodplain forests, in floodplain bushes and on banks. The species loves moist to wet, nutrient-rich soils in rather shady locations with high humidity, but these plants can also establish themselves in much less favorable places and soon form intolerant pure stands, provided that their abundant seeds, e.g. B. with excavated earth, get into appropriate terrain.

According to Ellenberg , it is a half-light plant , a weak acid to weak base pointer, indicating nitrogen-rich locations, and a character species of the subclass of the glutinous nettle societies ( Galio-Urticenea ). According to Oberdorfer, it occurs in Central Europe especially in societies of the orders Convolvuletaia and Glechometalia but also in the association Salicion albae. In the Allgäu Alps in Vorarlberg it rises at the roadside above the Höflealpe near the Gottesacker to an altitude of 1,300 meters.

The Indian balsam threatens to displace the native vegetation from their natural habitats; However, the need to combat it from a nature conservation perspective is questioned, as the species is of considerable importance as a late bee pasture for honey bees.

Spread history

The species, originally from the Himalayas, was first imported from Kashmir to England in 1839 and from there came to the European continent as an ornamental plant . It is one of the so-called hemerochore plants that ethelochor - that is, specifically - were introduced.

Eleven years after its introduction as a garden ornamental plant, the first wild plants could already be observed.In the eighties and nineties of the 19th century, feral growth could already be found in France , on the German and Dutch North Sea coasts , and soon also on the Upper Rhine down from Basel. Today it is widespread across almost the entire European continent.

The glandular balsam has been on the list of invasive alien species of Union-wide importance since 2017 . In Switzerland it was added to the black list of invasive neophytes and it is on the corresponding list of prohibited invasive alien organisms in the Release Ordinance .

Combat

The glandular balsam is combated in many places as alien and displacing, for example in the Bavarian Forest , where it has become very common, by the Bavarian Forest Association or in Oberstdorf by the Oberstdorf Association and it is spread through the seeds. Until the first flowers have formed, a deep cut (mowing) prevents further spread. The balsam is also easy to pull out. This measure must be carried out before the seeds mature. Since it is easy to re-root at the shoot nodes, uprooted or mowed plants should be cleared and composted or laid out on paths and roads to wither quickly. However, the cultivated areas must be checked for a further four years, because the seed stock in the soil can remain viable for five years. Feeding the plants to red deer in the enclosure is viewed as unproblematic, as is the grazing of stocks with sheep.

However, manual control of balsam at riverside locations - unlike on land locations such as meadows or forest edges - by spreading seeds and opening up the habitat for more aggressive neophytes can potentially do more harm than good.

The Bavarian State Office for Forestry and Forestry has established in tests that the glandular balsam does not have to be fought because it does not hinder forest regeneration and, according to other research, only has very little effects on forests.

Natural enemies

In some areas, the black bean louse attacks the plants, which are greatly inhibited in growth. This leads to a strong reduction in the plant density. The caterpillars of the middle wine hawk feed on the glandular balsam.

Medical importance and recovery

All species of balsam are slightly poisonous when fresh. In folk medicine, this plant has no special place. In some regions, this type of plant is used in high doses as an emetic and in lower doses as diuretic tea . The Bach flower "Impatiens" is made from the glandular balsam.

The flowers can be processed into jelly or parfait and the seed pods can be boiled or dried. The seeds are oily and have a nutty taste; they are edible raw and cooked. The Lawson dye ( henna dye ) can also be obtained in small quantities from the leaves .

Origin of name

The plant has a spreading mechanism in which the ripe seed pods pop open, among other things through mechanical stimulus, and the seeds are thrown far out. This is where the generic name comes from. The glands on the leaf stalk and leaf base give the herb the name glandular balsam . The other name Indian balsam can be traced back to the original East Indian distribution area.

Picture gallery

  • Glandular balsam

  • inflorescence

  • Close up of a flower from the front

  • Close up of a flower from the side

  • Habit , thanks to aphid infestation with suppressed branching of the flower region

  • Hoverfly visiting flowers

  • Glands

  • Pale mauve flowers and capsule fruits

  • Seeds

See also

swell

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Erich Oberdorfer : Plant-sociological excursion flora for Germany and neighboring areas. 8th edition. Verlag Eugen Ulmer, Stuttgart 2001, ISBN 3-8001-3131-5 . Page 649.
  2. ↑ The life of the bumblebees in August ( Memento from October 16, 2014 in the Internet Archive ), Aktion Hummelschutz. Retrieved August 8, 2011
  3. ↑ Erhard Dörr, Wolfgang Lippert : Flora of the Allgäu and its surroundings. Volume 2, IHW, Eching 2004, ISBN 3-930167-61-1 , p. 210.
  4. ↑ Hans-Joachim Flügel: The glandular balsam "Impatiens glandulifera" - threat or enrichment? In: Nature and Landscape. 52, issue 6, 2017, pp. 268–273
  5. ^ Swiss Confederation - The Federal Council: SR 814.911 Ordinance of 10 September 2008 on the handling of organisms in the environment (Release Ordinance, RO). Appendix 2. Accessed June 20, 2018 .
  6. ↑ S. Buholzer, M. Nobis, N. Schoenenberger, S. Rometsch: List of the alien invasive plants of Switzerland . Ed .: Infoflora. ( infoflora.ch [accessed on August 6, 2019]).
  7. ↑ Archived copy ( memento of the original dated August 5, 2017 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Mention of the Schönerungsverein Oberstdorf eV on the website of the municipality of Oberstdorf @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.oberstdorf.de
  8. ↑ Beware of plants! When green becomes a problem. ( Memento from August 1, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) (PDF; 290 kB), Bavarian State Institute for Viticulture and Horticulture - Veitshöchheimer Reports from Landespflege, Landespflege department - Issue 101–2007, pp. 53–56
  9. ↑ Displacement competition ( memento of the original from March 5, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Nature Conservation Union Germany (NABU) - Nature Conservation Today, Edition 4/93, pp. 36–39  @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.nabu-giessen.de
  10. Jump up ↑ Combating the Indian balsam LUBW State Institute for Environment, Measurements and Nature Conservation Baden-Württemberg - Nature Conservation Info 2007 Issue 3–2008 Issue 1, pp. 92–93
  11. ↑ Martin Hejda, Petr Pyšek: What is the impact of "Impatiens glandulifera" on species diversity of invaded riparian vegetation? In: Biological Conservation. 132 (2), 2006, doi : 10.1016 / j.biocon.2006.03.025 , pp. 143–152 (HTML summary)
  12. ↑ Olaf Schmidt, Christian Ammer: How problematic is the Indian balsam? Forest knowledge . January 20, 2015, accessed September 28, 2016.
  13. ↑ Martin Bachmann, René Wördehoff, Klaus Lamatsch, Alfred Wörle, Christian Ammer: "Indian balsam in the forest - weeds pass away", LWF-aktuell 73 on the website of the Bavarian State Office for Forestry and Forestry, accessed on August 25, 2017.
  14. Jump up ↑ Jan Čuda, Michaela Vítková, Marie Albrechtová, Wen-Yong Guo, Jacob N. Barney, Petr Pyšek: Invasive herb "Impatiens glandulifera" has minimal impact on multiple components of temperate forest ecosystem function. In: Biological Invasions. 2017, doi : 10.1007 / s10530-017-1508-z .
  15. ^ Siegrid Hirsch and Felix Grünberger: The herbs in my garden , Weltbild Verlag, 2006, ISBN 3-8289-2128-0
  16. ↑ Gastronomy: Springkraut & Co .: Herb chef Peter Becker makes salad from neophytes. In: Badische Zeitung. September 13, 2011, accessed May 20, 2015 .

literature

  • Ingo Kowarik: Biological Invasions. Neophytes and Neozoa in Central Europe. Ulmer, Stuttgart 2003, ISBN 3-8001-3924-3
  • Mario Ludwig, Harald Gebhard, Herbert W. Ludwig, Susanne Schmidt-Fischer: New animals and plants in the natural environment. Recognize and identify immigrant species. BLV, Munich 2000, ISBN 3-405-15776-5 .
  • Heinrich Hofmeister: The forest habitat. Kessel, Remagen 2004, ISBN 3935638523 .
  • Dirk Albrodt: Illustrated Encyclopedia of Flower Essences , Reise Know-How Verlag, 1997, ISBN 3-89416-780-7 .
  • Volkmar Weiss : The red plague from a green point of view: Spring herbs - valued by beekeepers, fought by nature conservationists. Graz: Leopold Stocker Verlag 2015, ISBN 978-3-7020-1506-0 ; therein pp. 50–115: The red balsam: Appreciated by beekeepers, fought by some eco-activists .

Web links

Commons : Glandular Balsam ( Impatiens glandulifera )  - Album with pictures, videos and audio files