Fern myrtle

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Fern myrtle
Autumn colors of Comptonia peregrina

Autumn colors of Comptonia peregrina

Systematics
Rosids
Eurosiden I
Order : Beech-like (Fagales)
Family : Gelaceae family (Myricaceae)
Genre : Comptonia
Type : Fern myrtle
Scientific name of the  genus
Comptonia
L'Hér. ex Aiton
Scientific name of the  species
Comptonia peregrina
(L.) JMCoult.

The fern myrtle ( Comptonia peregrina ) is the only recent species of the genus Comptonia from the family of the myricaceae . This shrub, which is also suitable as a decorative, aromatic ornamental plant, is widespread in eastern North America .

description

leaves

Vegetative characteristics

The fern myrtle grows as a densely branched, mostly deciduous shrub that reaches heights of 0.5 to 1.5 meters. It forms polycormons with the help of rhizomes . The spread to ascending, twisting branches have a fluffy hairy to bald bark , initially covered with glandular hair . The bark of the twigs is red-brown to gray with stiff to shaggy, sometimes short, downy hairs.

The alternately arranged leaves, which smell strongly aromatic when rubbed, consist of a 3 to 6 mm long petiole and a 3 to 15.5 cm long and 0.3 to 2.9 cm wide leaf blade. The membranous, linear-lanceolate leaf blade is more or less deeply pinnate with alternate to almost opposite, rounded-egg-shaped leaf sections, so that the leaf is reminiscent of a fern frond. The leaf base can be truncated, wedge-shaped, narrowed or crooked. The leaf surface is densely downy and hairy glandular or hairless on the upper side. The dark green color of the top is due to the terpene content . The long, pointed, almost heart-shaped stipules fall off more or less early.

Generative characteristics

One female, spherical and several male, elongated inflorescences

The fern myrtle is mostly dioecious ( dioecious ), rarely monoecious ( monoecious ) separate sexes. The egg to heart-shaped bracts are hairless or downy, pointed to long, dotted on the underside with glandular dots, and ciliate on the edge. The male inflorescences are in several at the ends of the branches and are short, sometimes bent back, yellowish-green catkins up to 5 cm in length. The female inflorescences are spherical to ovate with reddish bracts with a size of 5 mm at the flowering time and up to 2 cm at the fruiting time.

The flowers are always unisexual. The male flowers contain three to eight free or fused stamens at their base , which are shorter than the bracts surrounding them. The female flowers contain a einfächerigen ovary with one ovule and two stylus. At flowering time they are surrounded by a permanent bract and by two linear-awl, up to 1.3 cm large, glandular dotted bracts, which grow at the fruiting time and split into four to eight bracts that protrude and cover the fruit. The flowering time is in the spring before the leaves unfold, in Ohio from April to May, in Canada from mid-May to mid-June.

The fruits are 2.5 to 5.5 mm in size, elongated, egg-shaped, smooth nuts that are grouped into a round, burr-like unit, which turn brown in late summer when ripe.

The fern myrtle is tetraploid with a chromosome number of 2n = 32.

Occurrence

The fern myrtle is found in the northeastern United States and southeastern Canada . In Central Europe the species was Comptonia still in the Pliocene part of a rich flora, but died during the cold periods of the Pleistocene from.

Comptonia peregrina grows preferentially on dry, sandy to gravelly, lime-poor, light-exposed locations in dry pine forests, on mountain slopes, road embankments, on clearings, burns, older mountain heaps and fallow pastureland as well as in gravel pits at altitudes between 0 and 1800 meters. The pioneer plant is an annoying weed in blueberry crops. There are stocks in the Canadian provinces of New Brunswick , Nova Scotia , Ontario , Prince Edward Island , Québec and the US states of Connecticut , Delaware , Georgia , Illinois , Indiana , Kentucky , Maine , Maryland , Massachusetts , Michigan , Minnesota , New Hampshire , New Jersey , New York , North Carolina , Ohio , Pennsylvania , Rhode Island , South Carolina , Vermont , Virginia , West Virginia, and Wisconsin .

Systematics

The basionym of this species ( Liquidambar peregrina L.) was first published in 1753 by Carl von Linné in Species Plantarum . The genus Comptonia presented Charles Louis L'Héritier de Brutelle in 1789 together with Comptonia aspleniifolia (" asplenifolia ") (L.) L'Hér. ex Aiton in William Aiton : Hortus Kewensis on. The generic name Comptonia honors the Oxford Bishop Henry Compton , who was known as a hobby gardener. The valid species name Comptonia peregrina was published by John Merle Coulter in 1894. Other synonyms for Comptonia peregrina (L.) JMCoult. are: Comptonia ceterach Mirb. , Myrica aspleniifolia L. , Myrica comptonia C.DC. , Myrica peregrina (L.) Kuntze . Some authors presented varieties Comptonia peregrina var. Aspleniifolia (L.) Fernald and Comptonia peregrina var. Tomentosa A. Chev. However, no taxonomic value was assigned to these in further processing.

use

In the temperate latitudes, the fern myrtle is an attractive and aromatic ornamental shrub with a beautiful autumn color.

Comptonia peregrina has already served as a model plant for researching plant roots , especially since it lives in symbiosis with Frankia .

The young fruits are eaten as a small bite. The aromatic leaves are used fresh or dried to brew tea. The leaves also served as a condiment.

Ethnobotany is familiar with folk medical uses of the fern myrtle by Indian tribes. The natives in North America knew other uses for Comptonia peregrina . It was used for smoking in ritual ceremonies. A stimulant or tonic was made from parts of plants. It was also used as a poison.

swell

  • Allan J. Bornstein: Comptonia. In Flora of North America Editorial Committee (Ed.): Flora of North America North of Mexico . Volume 3: Magnoliophyta: Magnoliidae and Hamamelidae . Oxford University Press, New York / Oxford a. a. 1997, ISBN 0-19-511246-6 , pp. 435 (English).
  • Paula M. Pijut: Comptonia peregrina. In: John K. Francis (Ed.): Wildland shrubs of the United States and its territories. Thamnic. In: Gen. Tech. Rep. IITF-26. Vol. 1, Rio Piedras, Puerto Rico: US Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, International Institute of Tropical Forestry 2004, pp. 237–239 ( PDF file. )
  • David S. MacKenzie: Perennial ground covers. Timber Press, 2002, ISBN 0-88192-557-8 , p. 110, ( limited preview in Google book search).
  • Andreas Roloff, Andreas Bärtels: Flora of the woods. Purpose, properties and use . 3rd, corrected edition. Eugen Ulmer, Stuttgart (Hohenheim) 2008, ISBN 978-3-8001-5614-6 , pp. 211-212 . ( Preview )

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d e f Paula M. Pijut: Comptonia peregrina. In: John K. Francis (Ed.): Wildland shrubs of the United States and its territories. Thamnic. In: Gen. Tech. Rep. IITF-26. Vol. 1, Rio Piedras, Puerto Rico: US Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, International Institute of Tropical Forestry 2004, pp. 237–239 ( PDF file. )
  2. ↑ a b c d e f g Allan J. Bornstein: Comptonia. In Flora of North America Editorial Committee (Ed.): Flora of North America North of Mexico . Volume 3: Magnoliophyta: Magnoliidae and Hamamelidae . Oxford University Press, New York / Oxford a. a. 1997, ISBN 0-19-511246-6 , pp. 435 (English).
  3. ↑ Jost Fitschen (first name), Franz H. Meyer, Ulrich Hecker, Hans Rolf Höster, Fred-Günter Schroeder: Gehölzflora . 11th edition. Quelle & Meyer, Wiebelsheim 2002, ISBN 3-494-01268-7 , p. 35-2 .
  4. ↑ Robert Hegnauer: Chemotaxonomy of plants: An overview of the distribution and the systematic importance of plant substances. Volume 14, 1990, p. 97, ( limited preview in Google book search)
  5. ↑ Barbara Andreas, James Burns: Comptonia peregrina (L.) Coult., Sweet-fern . Division of Natural Areas and Preserves Ohio Department of Natural Resources, 1983, PDF file. ( Memento of the original from February 3, 2010 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.dnr.state.oh.us
  6. ↑ a b Comptonia peregrina at Tropicos.org. Missouri Botanical Garden, St. Louis
  7. ↑ Tertiary trees. Botanical Gardens of the University of Bonn, accessed on August 25, 2017 .
  8. ↑ Joachim Reitner in an interview: Professor explains the uniqueness of the Willershausen clay pit for science. Hessische Niedersächsische Allgemeine, August 16, 2014, accessed on August 25, 2017 .
  9. ↑ Ivan V. Hall, Lewis E. Aalders, C. Fred Everett: The biology of Canadian weeds: 16. Comptonia peregrina (L.) Coult. In: Canadian Journal of Plant Science . tape 56 , no. 1 , 1976, p. 147-156 , doi : 10.4141 / cjps76-022 .
  10. ↑ a b ICBN Art. 60.8 and Recommendation 60G.
  11. ^ Virginia Barlow: Species in the Spotlight: Sweetfern, Comptonia peregrina. In: Northern Woodlands. Volume 60, 2009, p. 33 ( online ).
  12. ↑ a b Comptonia peregrina at Plants For A Future

further reading

  1. ↑ Carl von Linné: Species Plantarum. Volume 2, Laurentius Salvius, Stockholm 1753, p. 1024 ( digitized versionhttp: //vorlage_digitalisat.test/1%3Dhttp%3A%2F%2Fwww.biodiversitylibrary.org%2Fopenurl%3Fpid%3Dtitle%3A669%26volume%3D2%26issue%3D%26spage%3D1024%26date%3D1753~GB%3D~ IA% 3D ~ MDZ% 3D% 0A ~ SZ% 3D ~ double-sided% 3D ~ LT% 3D ~ PUR% 3D ).
  2. ^ William Aiton: Hortus Kewensis. Volume 3, 1789, p. 334 ( digitized versionhttp: //vorlage_digitalisat.test/1%3Dhttp%3A%2F%2Fwww.biodiversitylibrary.org%2Fopenurl%3Fpid%3Dtitle%3A4504%26volume%3D3%26issue%3D%26spage%3D334%26date%3D1789 .~GB%3D~ IA% 3D ~ MDZ% 3D% 0A ~ SZ% 3D ~ double-sided% 3D ~ LT% 3D ~ PUR% 3D ).
  3. ↑ John Merle Coulter: Comptonia. In: Torrey Botanical Club (Ed.): List of Pteridophyta and Spermatophyta growing without Cultivation in Northeastern North America. In: Memoirs of the Torrey Botanical Club. Volume 5, No. 9, 1894, p. 127 ( digitized versionhttp: //vorlage_digitalisat.test/1%3Dhttp%3A%2F%2Fwww.biodiversitylibrary.org%2Fopenurl%3Fpid%3Dtitle%3A45469%26volume%3D5%26issue%3D9%26spage%3D127~26date%3D1894 .~GB%3D%3D IA% 3D ~ MDZ% 3D% 0A ~ SZ% 3D ~ double-sided% 3D ~ LT% 3D ~ PUR% 3D ).
  4. ↑ Patricia L. Goforth, John G. Torrey: The Development of Isolated Roots of Comptonia peregrina (Myricaceae) in Culture. In: American Journal of Botany. Volume 64, No. 4, 1977, pp. 476-482, JSTOR 2441778 .
  5. ↑ H. Ziegler, R. Hüser: Fixation of Atmospheric Nitrogen by Root Nodules of Comptonia peregrina. In: Nature . Volume 199, 1963, p. 508, doi : 10.1038 / 199508a0 .
  6. ↑ Muriel Sylvestre, André Pichette, Serge Lavoie, Angélique Longtin, Jean Legault: Composition and cytotoxic activity of the leaf essential oil of Comptonia peregrina (L.) Coulter. In: Phytotherapy Research . Volume 21, No. 6, 2007, pp. 536-540, doi : 10.1002 / ptr.2095 .

Web links

Commons : Comptonia peregrina  - collection of images, videos and audio files