Cotton milkweed
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Cotton milkweed ( Gomphocarpus fruticosus ) |
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| ( L. ) WTAiton |
The cotton Milkweed ( Gomphocarpus fruticosus ), in German as a swan plant or, together with Gomphocarpus physocarpus than Swan Milkweed and balloon plant referred to, is a plant of the genus Gomphocarpus from the subfamily of the asclepiadoideae (Asclepiadoideae).
description
Appearance and leaf
The cotton-silk plant is a woody at the base shrub that reaches a height of mostly 0.5 to 1.5 meters, in exceptional cases up to 3 meters. A tap root is formed. The upright stems, which are strongly branched at the base, are initially tomentose, later densely hairy.
The opposite leaves have a petiole with a length of only 1 to 10 mm. The downy hairy leaf blade is (2.5 cm to) 4 to 12 cm long and (0.2 to) 0.3 to 0.8 (to 1.3) cm wide, linear to linear-lanceolate with a narrow to wide wedge-shaped base and a pointed to pointed tip. The midrib ends in a spiked tip. The leaf margins are flat; In the northern part of the distribution area there are also populations with downwardly rolled leaf margins. The leathery leaf blades are more or less densely hairy with soft, white hairs along the midrib and on the leaf margins.
Inflorescence and flower
The nodding inflorescence sitting outside the leaf axils contains four to seven, rarely up to twelve flowers. The 1.5 to 3, rarely up to 4 cm long inflorescence stem is hairy downy. The thread-like bracts fall off early. The up to 2.5 cm long flower stalks are hairy downy.
The hermaphrodite flower is radially symmetrical and five-fold. The five 2 to 5 mm long and 0.6 to 1.3 mm wide, lanceolate or triangular, tapering sepals are hairy on the outside. The five bent-back petals are bare on the outside and finely papilose on the inside and often covered with fine white hairs along the right edge. The 5 to 8 mm long and 3 to 5 mm wide corolla lobes are egg-shaped with a pointed tip. The gynostegium stands on a stalk about 1 to 1.5 mm high. The secondary corolla lobes are 2 to 4 mm long and 1.5 to 3 mm wide, about as long as the column, compressed laterally and folded lengthways and more or less square or rectangular in side view. Its upper edge is drawn out into a pair of sickle-shaped “teeth”, which are bent outwards approximately parallel to the upper edges or point somewhat more inwardly into the cap-shaped cavity. A “tooth” or protrusion is missing in the cavity. The wings of the anthers are 1.5 to 2 mm long with straight, not curved edges. The brown colored corpusculum (clamp body) is 0.3 mm high, 0.1 to 0.15 mm wide and almost cylindrical. The flattened caudiculae (stalks) are 0.3 to 0.4 mm long and 0.1 mm thick. The 1.2 to 1.3 mm long and 0.3 mm thick, elongated or inverted-lanceolate pollinia are strongly flattened. The scar is flat.
Fruit and seeds
The upright, more or less inflated follicles are 4 to 7 cm long with a diameter of 1.5 to 2.5 cm, egg-shaped and gradually or rather abruptly run out towards the tip into a beak-shaped appendage . Their surface is hairy down; thread-like extensions ("soft spines") are present or absent. The seeds are 3.5 to 5 mm long with a width of 2 mm, broadly ovoid with a concave and a convex side. There are wart-like protrusions on the outside. The approximately 3 cm long head of hair consists of fine, white hair.
Chromosome number
The number of chromosomes is 2n = 22.
Differences from similar species
The cotton milkweed ( Gomphocarpus fruticosus ) is very similar to Gomphocarpus physocarpus , which is why in floristic practice both are often referred to only together as the "balloon plant". They can be distinguished mainly by the egg-shaped follicle fruits, which in Gomphocarpus fruticosus are extended to a terminal, beak- shaped appendage, which earned them the common name "swan plant", while the fruits in Gomphocarpus physocarpus have a rounded tip without an appendage. Furthermore, the corolla lobes of the cotton milkweed are elongated with well-developed "teeth" on the upper edge, while the "teeth" of Gomphocarpus physocarpus are only weakly developed and the upper edge sloping downwards. In the overall habitus , the cotton milkweed is already more branched at the base, while Gomphoceras physocarpus has a main trunk that only branches further up.
Also often referred to as the “balloon plant”, but not related to the species presented here, is the balloon vine ( Cardiospermum halicacabum ) now also grown in southern Germany .
Synecology
Gomphocarpus fruticosus is one of the food plants in Africa for the caterpillars of the little monarch butterfly ( Danaus chrysippus aegyptius (Schreber)). In Australia , where Gomphocarpus fruticosus is now widespread, it is one of the food plants of the monarch butterfly ( Danaus plexippus ), which, however, only immigrated there in the 1870s. In the Azores , the species, which occurs only in a few locations and in small numbers, is the sole food plant for the caterpillars of the monarch butterfly. In the Mediterranean area, e.g. B. in the Balearic Islands , it is in turn food plants of the small monarch butterfly , which was able to expand its range significantly to the north. It is still controversial, however, whether the frequent observations of the small monarch butterfly in the Balearic Islands since 1999 actually indicate a native population, or whether more and more butterflies are regularly immigrating.
Occurrence
The cotton milkweed originally came from southern Africa, East Africa and the Arabian Peninsula. It grows in Yemen at altitudes of up to 2900 meters. It occurs on sandy and stony soils in human-influenced, open habitats, such as. B. road lines, along railway lines, but also in the floodplains of temporarily water-bearing rivers and on river banks.
The cotton milkweed is naturalized in most of the Mediterranean countries, in Australia and worldwide in warm regions with suitable habitats .
Systematics
The first publication of this species took place in 1753 by Carl von Linné in Species Plantarum under the Basionym Asclepias fruticosa . It was placed in the genus Gomphocarpus by William Townsend Aiton in 1811 . Other synonyms for Gomphocarpus fruticosus (L.) WTAiton are Asclepias angustifolia Schweigg. , Asclepias crinita (G.Bertol.) NEBr. , Asclepias glabra Mill. , Gomphocarpus angustifolius (Schweigg.) Link , Gomphocarpus arachnoideus E. Fourn. , Gomphocarpus cornutus Decne. , Gomphocarpus crinitus G.Bertol.
There are currently five subspecies of Gomphocarpus fruticosus :
- Gomphocarpus fruticosus (L.) WTAiton subsp. fruticosus : The young stems are almost bare, the fruits are covered with thread-like appendages up to 6 mm long, the corolla lobes are higher than wide, cream-colored or yellow-green. This subspecies is native to southern Africa. This is the subspecies introduced as a neophyte .
- Gomphocarpus fruticosus subsp. decipiens (NEBr.) Goyder & Nicholas : The young stems are covered with a white felt, the fruits are covered with thread-like projections up to 6 mm long, the corolla lobes are higher than wide, cream-colored or yellow-green. This subspecies occurs in southern Africa.
- Gomphocarpus fruticosus subsp. flavidus (NEBr.) Goyder : The fruits are covered with thread-like appendages, these are shorter than 5 mm long, the corolla lobes are as high as they are wide, chestnut brown or chocolate brown. This subspecies occurs in northeast Africa.
- Gomphocarpus fruticosus subsp. rostratus (NEBr.) Goyder & Nicholas : The fruits are rounded and at the end extended into a long, beak-shaped appendage. The thread-like extensions of the surfaces are usually completely absent.
- Gomphocarpus fruticosus subsp. setosus (Forssk.) Goyder & Nicholas : The fruits are covered with thread-like appendages, these are shorter than 5 mm long, the corolla lobes are as high as they are wide and colored dark green. This subspecies occurs in the Arabian Peninsula, Somalia , Ethiopia and Eritrea .
Economic and medical importance
All parts of the plant are poisonous. The plant parts contain cardiac glycosides . In China, Gomphocarpus fruticosus is therefore cultivated for medicinal purposes. The brew is used for stomach problems. The leaves were also used against tuberculosis in the past .
In homeopathy , it is considered a remedy for hay fever.
The "silk" of the seeds is used to stuff pillows and is similar to kapok . Around 1900 there were also attempts to spin the "silk" of the seeds; however, the fibers were found to be too short and too brittle for this purpose.
supporting documents
literature
- DJ Goyder, A. Nicholas: A Revision of Gomphocarpus R. Br. (Apocynaceae: Asclepiadeae). In: Kew Bulletin. Vol 56, No. 4, 2001, pp. 769-836, JSTOR 4119297 .
- William Thomas Parsons, Eric George Cuthbertson: Noxious weeds of Australia. CSIRO Publ., Collingwood 2001, ISBN 0-643-06514-8 , p. 180, limited preview in Google Book Search.
Individual evidence
- ↑ Gomphocarpus fruticosus on giftpflanze.com (here under the synonym Asclepias fruticosa )
- ↑ a b saemereien.ch. Attention: Common name for both Gomphocarpus physocarpus and Gomphocarpus fruticosus ! ( Memento of the original from December 25, 2015 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.
- ^ Robert Desmond Meikle : Flora of Cyprus. Volume Two (Valerianaceae to Polypodiaceae) . Bentham-Moxon Trust & Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, London 1985, ISBN 0-9504876-4-3 , pp. 1104 .
- ↑ a b Entry in Tropicos .
- ↑ Flora of Zimbabwe .
- ↑ Estimation of natural resources from the tourist and recreational point of view: II. Menorca's butterflies (PDF file; 182 kB).
- ↑ Werner Greuter , Hervé-Maurice Burdet , Guy Long (eds.): Med-Checklist. A critical inventory of vascular plants of the circum-Mediterranean countries . Vol. 1: Pteridophyta (ed. 2), Gymnospermae, Dicotyledones (Acanthaceae - Cneoraceae) . Conservatoire et Jardin Botanique, Genève 1984, ISBN 2-8277-0151-0 . (on-line).
- ↑ Carl von Linné: Species Plantarum. Volume 1, Impensis Laurentii Salvii, Holmiae 1753, p. 216, digitized
- ^ William Townsend Aiton: Hortus Kewensis; or, a catalog of the plants cultivated in the Royal Botanic Garden at Kew. 2nd Edition. Volume 2, Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, and Brown, London 1811, p. 80.
- ↑ Rafaël Govaerts (Ed.): Gomphocarpus - World Checklist of Selected Plant Families of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Last accessed on November 5, 2017.
- ^ TR Watson, SE Wright: The cardiac glycosides of Gomphocarpus fruticosus R. Br. 1. Afroside. In: Australian Journal of Chemistry. Volume 9, No. 4, pp. 497-511 DOI: 10.1071 / CH9560497 .
- ↑ a b Bingtao Li, Michael G. Gilbert, W. Douglas Stevens: Asclepiadaceae . In Wu Zheng-yi, Peter H. Raven (Ed.): Flora of China . tape 17 : Verbenaceae through Solanaceae . Science Press / Missouri Botanical Garden Press, Beijing / St. Louis 1994, ISBN 0-915279-24-X , pp. 204 (English). , PDF file , Gomphocarpus fruticosus online.
- ↑ World of Medicinal Plants: Federal Gazette No. 199 a, BGA / BfArM monograph (Commission D) of October 20, 1989
- ^ Agricultural Gazette of New South Wales . Volume 5, No. 1, 1895.
Web links
- Western Australian flora .
- Gomphocarpus fruticosus . In: S. Dressler, M. Schmidt, G. Zizka (Eds.): African plants - A Photo Guide. Senckenberg, Frankfurt / Main 2014.