Spring knot flower

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Spring knot flower
Spring knot flower (Leucojum vernum), illustration

Spring knot flower ( Leucojum vernum ), illustration

Systematics
Class : Bedecktsamer (Magnoliopsida)
Monocots
Order : Asparagales (Asparagales)
Family : Amaryllis family (Amaryllidaceae)
Genre : Knot flowers ( leucojum )
Type : Spring knot flower
Scientific name
Leucojum vernum
L.

The Spring snowflake ( Leucojum vernum ), and daffodils , daffodils , March bells or Big snowdrop called, is a plant from the family of the Amaryllis (Amaryllidaceae). It is one of the two species still remaining in the genus Leucojum ; the second species is the summer knot flower ( Leucojum aestivum ). The generic name is derived from the Greek leukos = white, ion = violet (the smell is violet-like). The species name vernum comes from the Latin ver = spring.

description

The spring knot flower is a perennial herbaceous plant that reaches heights of 10 to 30 cm. It forms underground onions as persistence organs and is therefore one of the onion geophytes . The about 2 cm thick onions are formed by the sheath-shaped leaf base and lie about 30 cm deep in the ground. The leaves are drawn in again in early summer - the spring knot flower is therefore one of the pre-summer green plants.

Usually three to five broad, linear, dark green leaves are at the base of the plant. They are up to 20 cm long and about 1 cm wide.

A characteristic feature of this plant species is the 3.5 cm long, single-leaf-looking and membranous "leaf sheath". This consists of two bracts that have grown together and towers over the otherwise leafless stem . The flowering period usually extends from March to April. In favorable locations, however, the conspicuous flowers can be formed as early as February. The fragrant, white-colored, bell-shaped, hermaphrodite, threefold flowers usually hang individually, rarely in pairs, nodding on the inflorescence stem. The six tepals are almost the same length and have a yellow-green, blotchy color on the blunt-lobed, thickened petal tips. There are six free stamens with orange anthers . The stylus is club-shaped. The German name for this plant species is derived from the early flowering period and the knot-like, subordinate ovary .

The nectar secretion of the spring knot flower is low and therefore ecologically irrelevant. However, the plant has thin-walled, sap- rich disc cells that various insects can drill into . Bees and butterflies are the main pollinators. They are attracted u. a. from the violet-like floral scent, which is particularly intense on the juice marks . The fertilized ovule slowly sinks to the ground after flowering. The plant is spread by animals that eat its fruit, a pear-shaped and fleshy, fissured capsule, and then excrete the black, spherical seeds.

The chromosome number of the species is 2n = 20, 22 or 24.

distribution

Märzenbecher in the Allgäu Alps
Blossom of the spring knot flower on the Schweinberg near Hameln
Blossom in the snow on the Schweinberg near Hameln

The spring knot flower is a sub-Mediterranean-subatlantic plant species of the alluvial forests and mixed deciduous forests. Outside of its natural range, it is naturalized in various areas, such as B. on the North American east coast.

The northern limit of the natural distribution in Germany corresponds roughly to the line Hanover - Wittenberg - Cottbus, deposits further north are based on naturalization. In France, the deposits lie east of a line Laon - Le Puy - Gap .

One of the largest occurrences of this strictly protected plant in Germany is the Leipziger Auenwald (city forest). Larger natural occurrences of wild-growing Märzenbecher in Germany north of the Main line can also be found on the Märzenbecherwiesen in Polenztal in Saxon Switzerland , near Haina (Grabfeld), in the Hainich National Park near the treetop path and on Schweinberg in the Hameln city ​​forest . The area near Hameln, located in a mixed deciduous forest at 200 to 280 m above sea level, covers approx. 3.60 km² and is one of the largest occurrences in Germany. It was placed under nature protection in 1948 and regularly attracts numerous tourists during its heyday.

South of the Main line, for example, the occurrence on the northern slope of the Franconian Alb near Algersdorf in the Sittenbachtal (district of Nürnberger Land) should be mentioned. The Märzenbecherwald near Ettenstatt in the Weißenburg-Gunzenhausen district comprises an approximately 500 by 200 m sub-area of ​​a high deciduous forest with a source horizon of 480 meters above sea level. This area has also been designated as a nature reserve. The spring knot flower was even included in the municipal coat of arms there. In Baden-Württemberg the plant comes from the Swabian Alb a. a. in the Eselsburger valley near Herbrechtingen, in the Autal near Bad Überkingen and in the Wolfstal near Lauterach.

In Austria, the spring knot flower occurs (sometimes frequently) in all federal states except Vienna. It is endangered in the Rhine Valley and north of the Alps.

Location

The plant species prefers moist, nutrient-rich, moderately acidic clay and loam soils, which usually also have gauze as a humus form . On such sites falter naturally Linden sycamore forests (stone scree forests, ravine forests, Tilio-Acerion () or hardwood floodplain forests Alno Ulmion . See Hartholzaue ). The “Märzenbecher” can also be found in the anthropogenically induced subsequent society of the latter - the nutrient-rich wet meadows (“Calthion”). The spring knot flower is a moisture indicator and colonizes its locations up to heights of 1600 m; so z. B. in the Allgäu Alps on the Haldenwanger Alpe in Bavaria.

Systematics

One can distinguish between two varieties:

  • Leucojum vernum var. Vernum : It occurs from the Pyrenees to Belgium and the Ukraine.
  • Leucojum vernum var. Carpathicum Sweet : It occurs in the Carpathian Mountains of the Czech Republic, Romania and the Ukraine.

Ecology / protection

The spring knot flower grows in groups, but rarely forms large stands. According to the Federal Species Protection Ordinance, it is particularly protected and according to the Red List as endangered. The main causes of the threat are interventions in the plant's habitat, such as the conversion of near-natural forests or the drainage and reforestation of bog areas. Game browsing and foragers also contribute to population reduction. The spring knot flower is attacked by the rust fungi Caeoma leucoji-verni and Puccinia sessilis var. Sessilis with spermogonia and aecidia .

ingredients

The whole plant is poisonous because it forms alkaloids such as lycorine and galantamine .

Märzenbecher in art

In 1969 in the GDR in the sentence "Protected Plants" the Märzenbecher was issued as a postage stamp with an issue value of 5 Pfennig .

An early depiction of the Märzenbecher can be found in the picture of the Upper Rhine master : The Paradise Garden from around 1410–1420.

photos

Blossoms:

  • Leucojum vernum 200305a.jpg
  • Leucojum vernum flower Apr2006.jpg
  • Leucoium vernum 411-36.jpg
  • Leucoium vernum 411-32.jpg
  • Märzenbecher2.JPG

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Pocket dictionary of plants in Germany, page 276
  2. ↑ 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 138.
  3. ↑ Network Phytodiversität Deutschlands e. V. (NetPhyD), Federal Agency for Nature Conservation (BfN) (Ed.): Distribution atlas of fern and flowering plants in Germany . Federal Agency for Nature Conservation, Bonn-Bad Godesberg 2013, ISBN 978-3-7843-5319-7 , p. 482 .
  4. ^ Jean-Marc Tison, Bruno de Foucault, Société botanique de France: Flora Gallica. Flore de France . 1st edition, 2nd printing (with numerous corrections). Biotope Éditions, Mèze 2014, ISBN 978-2-36662-012-2 , p. 82 (French).
  5. ↑ The Leipzig alluvial forest - a misunderstood jewel of nature. 1st edition Urania-Verlag Leipzig / Jena / Berlin 1992, ISBN 3-332-00538-3 .
  6. ↑ Municipality of Ettenstatt: The Märzenbecherwald
  7. ^ Manfred A. Fischer , Karl Oswald, Wolfgang Adler: Excursion flora for Austria, Liechtenstein and South Tyrol. 3rd, improved edition. State of Upper Austria, Biology Center of the Upper Austrian State Museums, Linz 2008, ISBN 978-3-85474-187-9 .
  8. ↑ Erhard Dörr, Wolfgang Lippert : Flora of the Allgäu and its surroundings. Volume 1, IHW, Eching 2001, ISBN 3-930167-50-6 , pp. 353-356, here p. 353.
  9. ↑ a b c Rafaël Govaerts (Ed.): Leucojum. In: World Checklist of Selected Plant Families (WCSP) - The Board of Trustees of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew . Retrieved September 21, 2016.
  10. ↑ Peter Zwetko: The rust mushrooms Austria. Supplement and host-parasite directory to the 2nd edition of the Catalogus Florae Austriae, III. Part, Book 1, Uredinales. (PDF; 1.8 MB).

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Web links

Commons : Spring knot flower  - album with pictures, videos and audio files
Wiktionary: Märzenbecher  - explanations of meanings, word origins, synonyms, translations