Annual silver leaf

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Annual silver leaf
Lunaria annua

Lunaria annua

Systematics
Rosids
Eurosiden II
Order : Cruciferous (Brassicales)
Family : Cruciferous vegetables (Brassicaceae)
Genre : Silver leaves ( Lunaria )
Type : Annual silver leaf
Scientific name
Lunaria annua
L.

The annual silver leaf ( Lunaria annua ) is a species of the genus silver leaves ( Lunaria ) within the cruciferous family (Brassicaceae). Other common German names are Gartensilberblatt , Judassilberling , Judaspfennig , Silbertaler or Gartenmondviole .

description

Illustration from Svensk Botanik , 1812

Vegetative characteristics

The annual silver leaf is - contrary to its name - biennial, i.e. an herbaceous plant that hibernates once until flowers and seeds form , and which, in exceptional cases, can reach heights of 30 to 100 centimeters. In the first year of life, only the basal leaves and one or more finger-shaped subterranean tubers are formed, from which a vertical stem axis with flowers sprouts in the following spring, from which the distinctive seed pods develop. After the seeds ripen, the plant dies.

The upper leaves of their serrated, broadly heart-shaped leaves are sessile.

Generative characteristics

The flowering period extends from April to June. The hermaphrodite flowers are fourfold. Unlike the perennial silver leaf , the flowers are odorless. The four purple-purple or rarely white petals are 20 to 25 millimeters long.

The curved fruit carrier (stem) is 1 to 3 centimeters long. The flat pods are almost circular with a diameter of 2 to 5 centimeters and rounded at the top. Each pod contains several seeds that fall out when they burst. Only now do the shimmering silver insides of the pods become visible. That is why the silver leaf is a popular ornament as a drying bouquet, especially since the pod shells remain on the dried stems for a long time.

The number of chromosomes is 2n = 28 + 2B.

ecology

The flowers are often visited by butterflies and bees , for the caterpillars of the aurora butterfly it serves as a food plant.

Occurrence

The annual silver leaf is originally sub-Mediterranean-pre-alpine and widespread in southeastern Europe. As a popular ornamental plant in “ cottage gardens ” in Central Europe and other regions, however, it regularly grows wild and can therefore now be found even on railway embankments, for example in Berlin. For Germany, the annual silver leaf is therefore listed as a neophyte with the status "on the way to naturalization". Lunaria annua is a neophyte in Spain, northern, central and eastern Europe, the Azores, Madeira, Argentina, Japan, New Zealand, the United States and Canada.

In the Allgäu Alps, Lunaria annua occurs in the Tyrolean part in the Birkental near Rauth near Nesselwängle at an altitude of up to 1180 meters.

  • Second growing season deciduous leaf

  • rare white flowers

  • purple-violet flowers

  • immature pods

  • ripe pods with and without seeds

  • Storage tubers at the end of the first growing season

swell

literature

  • Henning Haeupler, Thomas Muer: picture atlas of the fern and flowering plants of Germany . Ed .: Federal Agency for Nature Conservation (=  The fern and flowering plants of Germany . Volume 2 ). Eugen Ulmer, Stuttgart (Hohenheim) 2000, ISBN 3-8001-3364-4 .
  • Erich Oberdorfer : Plant-sociological excursion flora . With the collaboration of Theo Müller. 6th, revised and expanded edition. Eugen Ulmer, Stuttgart (Hohenheim) 1990, ISBN 3-8001-3454-3 .

Individual evidence

  1. ^ 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 , pp.  453 .
  2. ^ Aurorafalter, Anthocharis cardamines. Naturschutzbund Deutschland ( North Rhine-Westphalia ), accessed on May 22, 2020.
  3. ^ A b Lunaria in the Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN), USDA , ARS , National Genetic Resources Program. National Germplasm Resources Laboratory, Beltsville, Maryland. Retrieved July 29, 2017.
  4. ↑ Erhard Dörr, Wolfgang Lippert : Flora of the Allgäu and its surroundings. Volume 1, IHW-Verlag, Eching near Munich, 2001, ISBN 3-930167-50-6 , p. 601.

Web links

Commons : Annual honesty ( Lunaria annua )  - album with pictures, videos and audio files