Real whitebeam

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Real whitebeam
Common whitebeam (Sorbus aria)

Common whitebeam ( Sorbus aria )

Systematics
Family : Rose family (Rosaceae)
Subfamily : Spiraeoideae
Tribe : Pyreae
Sub tribus : Pome fruit family (Pyrinae)
Genre : White berries ( sorbus )
Type : Real whitebeam
Scientific name
Sorbus aria
( L. ) Crantz

The Sorbus aria or Ordinary Mehlbeere ( Sorbus aria ) is a plant from the genus of flour berries ( Sorbus ) within the family of Rosaceae (Rosaceae). Sorbus aria is the main species of the subgenus Aria Pers. It has a diploid set of chromosomes and reproduces sexually. With the exception of Sorbus domestica , it forms primary hybrids with the other main species of the subgenus of Sorbus fertile .

The common name whitebeam probably refers to the fact that the ripe and dried fruits used to be mixed with bread flour.

description

Vegetative characteristics

Illustration from storm

The whitebeam usually grows as a medium-sized tree reaching up to 10 meters in height. Specimens that develop a length of up to 20 meters are rarely found. You can also rock bushes or behind Stock bat Shrubby occur. The roots go pretty deep into the ground. The black-gray bark has white spots. It stays smooth for a long time. Longitudinal cracks only develop with age. The crown is leafy. The initially shiny brown-red barked and densely gray-white-tomentose haired branches later bare. Especially on short shoots , the edges of the bud scales show a white felt hair.

The alternate leaves arranged on the branches are divided into a petiole and a leaf blade . The length of the petiole corresponds to about a fifth of the leaf blade. The leaf blade develops on short shoots a length of about 5 to 12 centimeters and a width of 5 to 9 centimeters. The leaf shape is very variable. Most of the leaves are ovate-elliptical to oblong-lanceolate in shape. There are also those with an almost circular shape. It is typical that the blade is widest in the middle or below it. The leaf base is usually rounded, sometimes also narrowed in a wedge shape. The blade tip can be designed blunt or pointed. The leaf texture is relatively thin, it becomes a bit coarser in autumn. The (9-) 10 to 14 (-15) closely spaced pairs of nerves branch off from the main nerve at an acute angle. The leaf margin is unevenly double-sawn. The medium-sized, outwardly curved and pointed to the tip of the leaf teeth are usually as long as wide or longer than wide. The dark green top of the leaf is initially tomentose, but soon becomes bald. The underside of the leaf has a purely white felt hair. The hair on the nerves and on the petiole is sparsely shaggy. On shadow leaves, the hair on the underside of the leaf can also show a greenish-white color.

Generative characteristics

The flowering period extends from May to June. The white flowers of the real whitebeam are grouped together in semi-spherical sham umbels that are around 7 to 12 centimeters wide at the time of flowering. The inflorescences are hairy white tomentose and oriented upright. The hermaphroditic flowers are radial symmetry and five-fold with a double flower envelope . Their diameter is 10 to 15 millimeters. The fleshy, short triangular sepals and the flower cup are permanently covered with white tomentose hair. The five free, wheel-shaped spreading petals show a protruding woolly-felt hair on their upper side in the direction of the nail . Twenty stamens with cream-colored anthers are arranged in four staggered circles. They protrude far from the flower. The two to four carpels are only fused together in the lower part and form semi-subordinate ovaries . Most of the two styles (analogous to the number of carpels) are free.

From August, the yellow-red to scarlet, egg-shaped, spherical apple fruits ripen and look like small apples.

The number of chromosomes is 2n = 34.

ecology

This weakly competitive species never occurs in pure stands, but always only as a mixed tree species. The roots have ectotrophic mycorrhiza .

From an ecological point of view, these are female, nectar-bearing disc flowers. The pollination is done by insects . The real whitebeam is important as a bee pasture. The propagation takes place sexually and apomictically .

The fruit ripens from September to October; the fruits are winter dwellers .

Blooming whitebeam ( Sorbus aria ) in the mountain forest

Occurrence

The common whitebeam (Sorbus aria [L.] HJN Crantz) is widespread in western , central and southern Europe. In contrast, it is absent in northern Europe and parts of south-eastern Europe .

It occurs scattered in sunny oak and beech forests, in dry bushes, on stone bars and on rocks, also in subalpine tall herbaceous bushes. It thrives best on dry, lime-rich soils in warm places in summer. In the Allgäu Alps in Bavaria, it rises to an altitude of 1600 meters near Falken am Älpelekopf .

According to Ellenberg , it is a moderate heat pointer, distributed sub-oceanic, a weak acid to weak base pointer, preferring low-nitrogen locations and an order character of drought-bearing mixed oak forests (Quercetalia pubescenti-petraeae). But it also occurs in societies of the associations Berberidion, Erico-Pinion, Calamagrostion or the order Fagetalia.

use

Compared to other species of the genus, the benefit is rated relatively low. The bland-tasting fruits were sometimes used to make brandy or vinegar in the past . Ground and mixed with flour, they were sometimes processed into a sweet-tasting bread . In folk medicine , the fruits were used in mountain regions for coughs , diarrhea and catarrh . They were also used in pig fattening . Leaves and thin branches served as fodder for small livestock. A black color to the cut was made in the autumn branches color of wool are recovered.

The real whitebeam is planted as an ornamental tree in parks, gardens and as a street tree.

The relatively light wood of the real whitebeam has a very wide, light yellow sapwood and a red-brown core . It is characterized by great hardness and toughness. It shrinks a lot when drying. It's weatherproof, durable and easy to work with. It is used locally for turning and carving work and, for example, in the manufacture of tool handles or barrel staves .

See also

literature

  • Erich Oberdorfer : Plant-sociological excursion flora for Germany and neighboring areas . With the collaboration of Angelika Schwabe and Theo Müller. 8th, heavily revised and expanded edition. Eugen Ulmer, Stuttgart (Hohenheim) 2001, ISBN 3-8001-3131-5 .
  • Margot Spohn, Marianne Golte-Bechtle: What is blooming there? The encyclopedia: over 1000 flowering plants from Central Europe. Kosmos, Stuttgart 2005, ISBN 3-440-10326-9 .
  • Peter Schütt, Horst Weisgerber, Hans J. Schuck, Ulla Lang, Bernd Stimm, Andreas Roloff: Encyclopedia of Deciduous Trees . Nikol, Hamburg 2006, ISBN 3-937872-39-6 .
  • Siegmund Seybold (Ed.): Schmeil-Fitschen. Interactive flora of Germany. Seeing - determining - knowing. The key to the flora . CD-ROM, version 2.0. Quelle & Meyer, Wiebelsheim 2004, ISBN 3-494-01368-3 .

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Norbert Meyer: Sorbus in Rothmaler - excursion flora of Germany vascular plants: Critical supplementary volume, Springer Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2016, page 113ff. ISBN 9783827431325
  2. ↑ a b c d e f g h i j k l Herfried Kutzelnigg: Sorbus. In: Hildemar Scholz (Hrsg.): Illustrated flora of Central Europe . Founded by Gustav Hegi. 2nd completely revised and expanded edition. Volume IV Part 2B: Spermatophyta: Angiospermae: Dicotyledones 2 (3) (Rosaceae, 2nd part) . Blackwell, Berlin / Vienna a. a. 1995, ISBN 3-8263-2533-8 , pp. 358-362; S. aria .
  3. ^ A b c d e f g h i j Norbert Meyer, Lenz Meierott, Herbert Schuwerk, Otto Angerer: Contributions to the genus Sorbus in Bavaria. In: Reports of the Bavarian Botanical Society for the Research of Native Flora , special volume, 2005: pp. 5–216 ( Sorbus aria : pp. 78–80).
  4. ↑ Data sheet Sorbus aria distributed in France from Tela Botanica - Le réseau de la botanique francophone , accessed on February 12, 2018
  5. ^ Norbert Meyer, Lenz Meierott, Herbert Schuwerk, Otto Angerer: Contributions to the genus Sorbus in Bavaria. In: Reports of the Bavarian Botanical Society for the Research of Native Flora , special volume, 2005: pp. 5–216 ( characteristics within the genus Sorbus : pp. 34–37).
  6. ↑ 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 505.
  7. ↑ Erhard Dörr, Wolfgang Lippert : Flora of the Allgäu and its surroundings. Volume 2, IHW, Eching 2004, ISBN 3-930167-61-1 , p. 103.
  8. ↑ Heinz Ellenberg : Vegetation of Central Europe with the Alps in an ecological, dynamic and historical perspective (=  UTB for science. Large series . Volume 8104 ). 5th, heavily changed and improved edition. Eugen Ulmer, Stuttgart (Hohenheim) 1996, ISBN 3-8252-8104-3 .
  9. ↑ Gerhard KF Stinglwagner , Ilse E. Haseder , Reinhold Erlbeck: The cosmos forest and forest lexicon. 3rd edition, Kosmos, Stuttgart 2005. Page 196, ISBN 3-440-10375-7 .

Web links

Commons : Real whitebeam ( Sorbus aria )  - album with pictures, videos and audio files