Esparto grass
| Esparto grass | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Esparto grass ( Lygeum spartum ) |
||||||||||||
| Systematics | ||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||
| Scientific name of the genus | ||||||||||||
| Lygeum | ||||||||||||
| Loefl. ex L. | ||||||||||||
| Scientific name of the species | ||||||||||||
| Lygeum spartum | ||||||||||||
| L. |
Esparto grass ( Lygeum spartum ) is a species of grass from the monotypical genus Lygeum native to the southern Mediterranean region . Their leaf fibers are used to make ropes and paper ( alfa paper ).
description
The perennial esparto grass forms 20 to 80 centimeter high clumps that often grow in large stands. The leaves are rolled up. They are 1.5 millimeters wide, tough and curved sickle-shaped at the tip of the leaf. The ligule is around 7 millimeters long.
The inflorescence is surrounded by a characteristic white bract . The bract is white, egg-shaped and 3 to 4 (up to 9) centimeters long and pointed sheath. It encloses only a single, usually two-flowered spikelet without glumes. The lemmas are around 2 inches long. In the lower half they are fused into a tube and there are covered with long, protruding hair. The palea are 3 to 4 inches long. The spikelets fall off as a whole at maturity.
The number of chromosomes is 2n = 16 or 40.
Occurrence
Esparto grass is native to the southern Mediterranean region. It occurs in the Western Sahara, Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Libya and Egypt. In the north the area extends to Spain, Sardinia, southern Italy, Sicily and Crete. Its locations are steppe grasslands, especially on clayey and salty soils.
use
The leaves of esparto grass, like those of half grass ( Stipa tenacissima ), are used for wickerwork (hats, shoes, bags, mats), for ropes and for the production of high quality paper ( alfa paper ). In the past, the Spanish Zamorano cheese was pressed using molds made from braided esparto grass, which the pattern on the cheese still indicates today.
literature
- Ingrid Schönfelder, Peter Schönfelder : The cosmos Mediterranean flora. Over 500 Mediterranean plants in color photos (= Kosmos nature guide ). 2nd Edition. Franckh, Stuttgart 1990, ISBN 3-440-05300-8 .
- WD Clayton, KT Harman, H. Williamson: GrassBase - The Online World Grass Flora:Lygeum spartum . Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew as of 2006 (accessed October 27, 2007).
- The Spanish esparto grass . By Ernst Adolf Willkomm in “Die Gartenlaube” from 1855.
Individual evidence
- ^ A b Peter Schönfelder , Ingrid Schönfelder: The new cosmos Mediterranean flora. Franckh Kosmos Verlag Stuttgart 2008. ISBN 978-3-440-10742-3 . P. 406.
- ^ Tropicos. [1]
- ↑ Rafaël Govaerts (ed.): Lygeum. In: World Checklist of Selected Plant Families (WCSP) - The Board of Trustees of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew . Retrieved November 6, 2016.
- ↑ Cheese Worlds
