Common rock pear

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Common rock pear
Common rock pear (Amelanchier ovalis) in Upper Austria

Common rock pear ( Amelanchier ovalis ) in Upper Austria

Systematics
Family : Rose family (Rosaceae)
Subfamily : Spiraeoideae
Tribe : Pyreae
Sub tribus : Pome fruit family (Pyrinae)
Genre : Rock pear ( Amelanchier )
Type : Common rock pear
Scientific name
Amelanchier ovalis
Medic.
Common rock pear ( Amelanchier ovalis ), fruits
blossoms

The Amelanchier ovalis ( Amelanchier ovalis ), also Common Amelanchier, Felsenmispel or Edelweiss shrub called (Austria), is a plant from the family of the rose family (Rosaceae).

description

The thornless, deciduous, richly branched and dense-crowned shrub reaches heights of between one and four meters. The slender, red-brown barked and initially sparsely tomentose twigs develop a mostly upright habit. The bark of the trunks shows a dark brown color when young and later a blackish color.

The alternate leaves have an egg-shaped to obovate shape and stand on about 15 mm long petioles. The leaf margin shows clear, fine teeth, the leaf tip can be either blunt or with a clearly recognizable tip. The young leaves, which are still hairy white and tomentose on their underside, reach a size of 2–4 × 2–3.5 cm. The orange to dark red autumn color of its leaves is characteristic of the rock pear.

The upright, racemose inflorescence consists of three to ten flowers that are formed between April and May - before the leaves shoot. The flowers arise from white felted buds, the scales of which have fine eyelashes. The terminal bud is usually spindle-shaped. The hermaphroditic, radial symmetry and five-fold flowers are introduced by a five-petalled, green calyx. The up to 15 mm long, snow-white, widely spaced and hairy on the underside of the petals are cut wedge-shaped to lanceolate. They usually develop a pink tint at the tips. The petals surround about 20 stamens, which in turn surround the five non-fused styles of the flower. The ovary is subordinate and consists of five carpels. These form false partitions, so that ten fruit compartments are created.

The thick, spherical apple fruits ripen in August. They carry the narrow and protruding sepals that have been preserved at the fruit base. The diameter of the fruits is about 1 cm. When ripe, the fruits are dark red to black-blue in color. They usually contain ten sickle-shaped and shiny seeds distributed in ten fruit compartments.

The number of chromosomes is 2n = 34 or 68.

ecology

The common rock pear is pollinated by insects ( entomophilia ). The small, hard seeds are distributed by animals, which excrete them again after eating the fruit. Vegetative propagation occasionally takes place via root shoots .

The common rock pear is used as a nectar plant for several butterfly species, including the green hairstreak ( Callophrys rubi ), a butterfly that is on the warning list of endangered species. The common rock pear is also a valuable fodder plant for the caterpillars of the endangered orchard fly moth ( Eupithecia insigniata ) and the rare weeping ram ( Aglaope infausta ).

Occurrence

The natural range includes the mountains of Central, Southern and Eastern Europe. In the north they can be found as far as Belgium and central Germany, in the east as far as Poland and Romania. Furthermore, the species also colonizes the mountains of the Middle East and North Africa. In the southern Alps this species rises up to 2000  m . In the Allgäu Alps, it rises in the Tyrolean part on the Lachenkopf near the Jöchelspitze to an altitude of 1945 meters.

The preferred locations are sunny, dry steep slopes, edges of semi-arid grassland and light oak and pine forests. The common rock pear likes to thrive in southern locations and on rock on lime-rich substrates; it is also Spaltenwurzler and Rohbodenpionier and is considered the characteristic species juneberries-bushes ( Cotoneastro-Amelanchieretum ) within the order of Schlehen bushes ( Prunetalia ). But it also occurs in societies of the order Quercetalia pubescentis or the associations Erico-Pinion and Quercion roboris.

The common rock pear has also been cultivated as an ornamental plant in green spaces and gardens since the 16th century. However, American species (e.g. Amelanchier lamarckii ) are more frequently used in Central European gardens. It is only recently that the common rock pear has become increasingly popular as part of hedges in natural gardens.

use

The floury-sweet tasting fruits can be processed into jam .

The leaves and seeds of the rock pear contain small amounts of cyanogenic glycosides (ie, glycosides that split off hydrogen cyanide). Gastrointestinal discomfort can occur after eating unripe fruit or large amounts of chewed seeds. Unchewed seeds are excreted undigested. However, if you accidentally bite a few seeds, no symptoms of poisoning are to be expected - similar to apple seeds, which also contain cyanogenic glycosides.

Taxonomy and systematics

Amelanchier ovalis medic. has the synonyms: Amelanchier rotundifolia Dum. Cours. Moench , Amelanchier vulgaris , Crataegus rotundifolia Lam. , Mespilus amelanchier L.

One can distinguish the following subspecies:

  • Amelanchier ovalis medic. subsp. ovalis
  • Amelanchier ovalis medic. subsp. embergeri Favarger & Stearn : It has the chromosome number of 2n = about 66.

Cultivated forms

  • Amelanchier ovalis "Helvetica"
  • Amelanchier ovalis var. Pumila
Real rock pear Amelanchier rotundifolia - ripe fruits
Common rock pear ( Amelanchier ovalis ) with ripe fruits

Common names

More are in part only regionally common names for Amelanchier ovalis or were: Butzenbirlesstrauch , Cipler ( Lower Engadine ) Felsenbiren ( Schwaben ), Flying berry bush , Flühbirenbaum ( Bern , Graubünden ), Gamsbeere ( Pinzgau , Pongau , throwing ), Hirschbirle , Quandelbeerbaum ( Tirol ), Quantelbeerbaum and Quendelbeeren .

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ 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 510.
  2. ↑ Erhard Dörr, Wolfgang Lippert : Flora of the Allgäu and its surroundings. Volume 2, IHW, Eching 2004, ISBN 3-930167-61-1 , p. 106.
  3. ↑ In gardening guides you can read, for example, that the common rock pear is "as a garden wood ... of no importance ... only slightly decorative": Andreas Bärtels: The great book of garden trees . Verlag Eugen Ulmer, Stuttgart 1973, ISBN 3-8001-6057-9 , p. 112 .
  4. ^ Dietrich Frohne, Hans Jürgen Pfänder: Poison Plants. a handbook for pharmacists, doctors, toxicologists and biologists. 5th edition, Wissenschaftliche Verlagsgesellschaft, Stuttgart 2004, ISBN 3-8047-2060-9 .
  5. ↑ Amelanchier ovalis subsp. embergeri at Tropicos.org. In: IPCN Chromosome Reports . Missouri Botanical Garden, St. Louis
  6. ^ Carl Jessen : The German folk names of plants , published by Philipp Cohen Hanover 1882, page 24

literature

  • Manfred A. Fischer, Wolfgang Adler, Karl Oswald: Excursion flora for Austria, Liechtenstein and South Tyrol . 2nd, improved and enlarged edition. State of Upper Austria, Biology Center of the Upper Austrian State Museums, Linz 2005, ISBN 3-85474-140-5 .
  • Bruno P. Kremer: Shrub trees. Recognize & determine. Mosaik, Munich 2002, ISBN 3-576-11478-5 ( Steinbach's natural guide ).

Web links

Commons : Ordinary rock pear  - collection of images