Great chickweed
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Great chickweed ( Stellaria holostea ) |
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The great chickweed ( Stellaria holostea ), also called real chickweed or large-flowered chickweed , is a larger relative of the chickweed ( Stellaria media ) and belongs to the carnation family (Caryophyllaceae). It is a widespread spring bloomer in bushes and deciduous forests.
Distribution and location
The greater chickweed is common in the warm temperate zones of Europe and West Asia, as well as in some countries in North Africa. The species was introduced to eastern North America. It prefers light, herbaceous deciduous and mixed forests, hedges and bushes. There it populates mainly fresh to moderately dry, moderately nutrient-rich, mostly lime-free, loamy and sandy soils up to medium mountain ranges. It is a character species of the Carpinion association in Central Europe, but also occurs in societies of the Fagion, Pruno-Rubion or Trifolion medii associations.
description
The chickweed is a perennial herbaceous plant . Their rhizomes are without tubers. The evergreen Chamaephyte grows with ascending, square stems and reaches heights of between 20 and 60 centimeters. The longer stems bear numerous long-stalked flowers and often find support on neighboring plants. Overall, the stems of this plant are quite weak and easily tear in the places where the opposite pairs of leaves sprout. Their 3 to 8 centimeters long, undivided narrow-lanceolate leaves are stiff, hairy on the edge and sessile. Your umbel-like inflorescence consists of 6 to 15 individual flowers with a diameter of two to three centimeters.
The radially symmetrical flowers are in a dichasally branched inflorescence , a so-called zymoid . A branching pattern is repeated several times in succession, in which the main axis ends in a blossom, which in turn is culminated by two side axes.
The white flowers consist of five petals split to the middle . These are about twice as long as the six to eight millimeters long nerveless calyx . The ovary is above, there are three styles per flower. The flowers of the great chickweed have herbaceous bracts. The plant blooms from April to June and in summer develops spherical fruit capsules that are roughly the size of the calyx. When ripe, these open with six flaps and release the 2–2.4 millimeter large, densely caked seeds.
The number of chromosomes is 2n = 26.
Single flower
inflorescence
Seeds
illustration
ecology
The great chickweed is either pollinated by insects or its hermaphrodite flowers pollinate themselves. The species occurs almost exclusively in larger, but rarely stock-forming groups. Their seeds are spread by the wind. Via vegetative propagation from its rhizome buds and sprouts from the previous year's shoots close to the ground, it quickly forms small clumps.
Since not all flowers bloom at the same time, but one after the other on the stems, the flowering period extends over several months, although the individual flowers only have a short lifespan.
It is an important food plant for a number of species of moths . For example, it is a nectar plant of the hornwort day ulchen ( Panemeria tenebrata ). For several other cutworms and clamp it represents an important crawler-food plant represents, especially for potentially vulnerable chickweed-blade tensioner ( Euphyia biangulata ), the endangered mouse-ear-blade tensioner ( Euphyia frustata ) and the endangered brown Glattrückeneule ( Aporophyla lutulenta ).
Sources and further information
literature
- Henning Haeupler , Thomas Muer: picture atlas of the fern and flowering plants of Germany (= the fern and flowering plants of Germany. Volume 2). Published by the Federal Agency for Nature Conservation. Ulmer, Stuttgart 2000, ISBN 3-8001-3364-4 .
- Erich Oberdorfer : Plant-sociological excursion flora. Ulmer, Stuttgart 1994, ISBN 3-8252-1828-7
Individual evidence
- ↑ 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 373.
Web links
- Great chickweed. In: FloraWeb.de.
- Distribution map for Germany. In: Floraweb .
- Stellaria holostea L. In: Info Flora , the national data and information center for Swiss flora . Retrieved October 8, 2015.
- Profile in natural dictionary
- Description in the Flora of North America
- Area map worldwide
- Thomas Meyer: Data sheet with identification key and photos at Flora-de: Flora von Deutschland (old name of the website: Flowers in Swabia )
