European hop beech
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European hop beech ( Ostrya carpinifolia ) |
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| Ostrya carpinifolia | ||||||||||||
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The European hornbeam ( Ostrya carpinifolia ), also Common hornbeam called, is a deciduous tree -Art from the genus of - eight to ten species worldwide - the hornbeam in the family of the birch family (Betulaceae).
Names
The generic name Ostrya already referred to the hop beech in ancient Greek ( ostrya ) and in Latin ( ostrya ). The word is similar to the Greek word for red beech, oxys . Both names are traced back to óstreon = oyster , as the wood, like the oyster shells, is very hard. The specific epithet carpinifolia means hornbeam leaves and alludes to the leaves of the hop beech, which are very similar to those of the hornbeam .
The German name Hopfenbuche indicates in the first part the inflorescences, which look similar to those of the hops , in the second part the general appearance, since this is particularly similar to the hornbeam.
description
Habitus
The European hop beech is a deciduous deciduous tree. It is usually up to 15 meters high, rarely up to 20 meters. The trunk diameter reaches up to 0.5 meters. The deep-set crown is typical of the hop beech. In youth it is more conical, later open. The hop beech is a fast-growing species, but rarely gets older than 100 years.
Wood and bark
The bark on the young tree is smooth and gray to gray-brown; later it becomes deep brown and cracked and comes off in angular plates; Orange-brown spots often appear under the sloping plates.
The wood is heavy, tough and hard. Undried it has a density of 0.9 to 1.1 g cm −3 , dry 0.77 g cm −3 . Cracks form when drying because the shrinkage is high. The stem center is similar to the nucleus, light to dark brown in color, but is only very indistinctly delimited from the sapwood. In general, the wood can easily be confused with that of the hornbeam.
Buds and leaves
The buds are pointed cone-shaped and protrude from the axis. They are green with brown spots, shiny and sticky. The shoots are reddish brown to brown and very hairy; they have orange raised lenticels .
The leaves are arranged in two rows and are ovate. The petiole is five to eight millimeters long and softly hairy. The blade is seven to nine inches long and three to five inches wide, with the largest width in the lower half. The spider base is truncated to rounded or slightly heart-shaped and mostly asymmetrical. The Spreitenapex is pointed to pointed. The leaf margin is sharply double serrated. The teeth are curved towards the tip and slightly rolled over at the edge. Each half of the leaf has 14 to 16 secondary leaf veins. In contrast to the hornbeam, the hop beech has clearly visible tertiary veins. The upper side of the leaf is glossy dark green, almost glabrous and glandless. The underside is light green and - especially with young leaves - densely populated with sessile glands. The veins are provided with close-fitting, stiff hair. In autumn the leaves turn yellow.
Flowers and fruits
Hop beeches are single sexed ( monoecious ). The male inflorescences appear in the autumn of the previous year and overwinter as closed catkins . During the flowering period in April / May, the kittens stretch to six to eight centimeters in length and are then four to six millimeters wide. The bracts are around three millimeters long, pale green, densely ciliated and have a red-brown tip. Each flower has four to ten stamens that do not or barely protrude over the wrapper. The anthers have a head of hair at the top, the stamens are in two parts.
The female kittens are four to six inches long, terminal and multi-flowered. They stand upright until they bloom, then they hang. The flowers only have an inconspicuous perigone , but are surrounded by a bag-like shell. The flowers stand in pairs in the axils of decrepit bracts. The pollination is carried by the wind.
The infructescence resembles the female inflorescence of hops . It is cone-shaped to ovoid, up to six inches long and 1.5 to three inches thick. The fruit shell arises from the intergrown pre-leaves and is densely hairy. It is initially ovate to flattened and yellowish-white, later puffed up and brown. Inside the fruit shell is a nut that is small, brown and shiny. The fruit ripens between August and October.
Chromosome number
The number of chromosomes is 2n = 16.
distribution
The area of the European hop beech comprises large parts of the Mediterranean area and the sub-Mediterranean zone of the Alps . It stretches from Provence to the east over the southern Alps via Croatia and Serbia to Bulgaria . In the south the area extends from Corsica via Sardinia , Italy , Sicily to Greece (excluding Crete ). In the east the area includes Asia Minor as far as the Taurus , the Caucasus and Lebanon .
In Central Europe, the hop beech is represented on the southern edge of the Alps and individually in the Central Alps. She is likely to have immigrated here in the post-glacial warm period. She comes sporadically in the Middle and Lower Styria before, in the valleys south of Carinthia , furthermore in South Tyrol , in the Krainer Karst in Trieste and Istria , and sporadically in Ticino and the southern Alpine valleys of Graubünden .
In the past, the hop beech was more common in southern Europe. The decline is attributed to excessive use of wood.
ecology
The hop beech is a sub-Mediterranean to Mediterranean species. It needs a warm summer, mild winter and high rainfall climate. It occurs in areas with an average annual temperature of 12.5 to 15.5 ° C and an average annual precipitation of 1200 to 1450 millimeters.
It grows preferentially on rocky, lime-rich (but also on silicate) sub-slopes. In the northern edge of its distribution, in Central Europe, it grows preferentially on dry limestone southern slopes of the colline to submontane elevation. In the Karawanken it grows up to a maximum of 900 m, while otherwise it rises up to 1300 m.
sociology
The hop beech is a typical representative of the sub-Mediterranean mixed deciduous, karst and bush forests. Here it is associated with downy oak ( Quercus pubescens ), manna ash ( Fraxinus ornus ), field maple ( Acer campestre ), French maple ( A. monspessulanum ), stone sissy ( Prunus mahaleb ), felt stone medlar ( Cotoneaster tomentosus ), common Rock pear ( Amelanchier ovalis ), woolly snowball ( Viburnum lantana ) and others
In Central Europe, it occurs primarily in the hop beech manna forest ( Ostryo-carpinifoliae-Fraxinetum orni Aichinger 1933). This settles in locations on the southern slope of the Alps on skeletal , low-humus rendzinen above limestone. It usually forms a loose bush forest. The herbaceous layer is often rich in species, predominantly earth sedge ( Carex humilis ) and Valais sheep fescue ( Festuca valesiaca ). In addition to the hop beech and manna ash from which it is named, the tree species that form the stand are the downy oak. Since they usually grow in inaccessible locations, they are not at risk. They are home to many rare animal and plant species. In Carinthia, for example, the sand viper and the green lizard occur mainly in the hop beech and manna forests.
use
The hops beech has a high lifting capacity, which is why it can often be found in low and medium-sized forests used for firewood .
The wood is easy to turn, mill and drill. It has an extremely high wear resistance, so it is used for furniture (especially chairs), parts of musical instruments, coils, rollers, hammers, angles, spindles and balls.
swell
literature
- Dénes Bartha: Ostrya carpinifolia . In: P. Schütt et al. (Ed.): Lexicon of forest trees . Nikol, Hamburg 2006, pp. 347-352, ISBN 978-3-937872-39-1
Individual evidence
- ↑ Helmut Genaust: Etymological dictionary of botanical plant names. 3rd, completely revised and expanded edition. Birkhäuser, Basel / Boston / Berlin 1996, ISBN 3-7643-2390-6 , pp. 446f. (Reprinted with ISBN 3-937872-16-7 ).
- ^ Erich Oberdorfer : Plant-sociological excursion flora for Germany and neighboring areas . 8th edition. Verlag Eugen Ulmer, Stuttgart 2001, ISBN 3-8001-3131-5 . Page 312.
- ↑ Peter Merz: Plant world of Central Europe and the Alps . Nikol, Hamburg 2002, p. 102f. ISBN 3-933203-55-4
Web links
- Ostrya carpinifolia Scop. In: Info Flora , the national data and information center for Swiss flora . Retrieved October 3, 2015.
- Thomas Meyer: Data sheet with identification key and photos at Flora-de: Flora von Deutschland (old name of the website: Flowers in Swabia )
- Profile of the European hop beech
- Images buds, bark
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