Great witchweed

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Great witchweed
Great witchweed (Circaea lutetiana)

Great witchweed ( Circaea lutetiana )

Systematics
Eurosiden II
Order : Myrtle-like (Myrtales)
Family : Evening primrose family (Onagraceae)
Subfamily : Onagroideae
Genre : Witch Herbs ( Circaea )
Type : Great witchweed
Scientific name
Circaea lutetiana
L.

The Great witchweeds ( Circaea lutetiana ), even ordinary witchweeds or Wicked Witch herb called, is a species of the genus circaea ( Circaea ) in the family Onagraceae (Onagraceae).

description

Vegetative characteristics

The large witch's herb is a perennial, herbaceous plant and reaches heights of 20 to 60, rarely up to 75 centimeters. On the rhizome there are decrepit bracts , as well as strong, at the end thickened runners at a depth of 10 to 20 centimeters . The upright stem is covered with soft hair.

The opposite arranged leaves are divided into a petiole and a leaf blade. The petiole is wingless. The simple leaf blade is heart-shaped to egg-shaped with a wedge-shaped base, curved toothed, pale green, mostly glabrous, but mostly hairy on the nerves.

Generative characteristics

Section of an inflorescence

Bracts are absent from the racemose inflorescence . The flowers are white. The two petals are not grown, with a length of 2 to 3 millimeters as long as the glandular calyx, deeply notched and indistinctly nailed. There are two stamens. The ovary is subordinate. The scar is bilobed.

The relatively small, obovate, double-sided fruit is an achenes ( Velcro fruit ) with bristly barbed hooks and contains two seeds each.

Chromosome number

The basic chromosome number is x = 11; there is diploidy with a chromosome number of 2n = 22.

ecology

The great witch herb is a rhizome - geophyte . The vegetative reproduction is lively and takes place through not very deep, thickened runners (rhizomes) . In winter the connection to the mother plant is already cut and the thickened runners are isolated. This makes the plant appear to be annual.

From an ecological point of view, these are homogeneous "nectar-bearing disc flowers". Hoverflies in particular act as pollinators . The flowering period extends from May to July.

Velcro spreads out.

Occurrence

The great witch's herb is native to Europe to Central Asia and Siberia and is also found in North Africa. It also settles in forests in deep shade and appreciates moist and nitrogenous clay soils . It is in Central Europe a weak Kennart the Association Alno Ulmion and also comes in other societies of order Fagetalia or dressing Alli Arion before. It is not endangered and not protected in Germany.

circaea lutetiana subsp. canadensis

Systematics

One can distinguish the following subspecies:

  • Circaea lutetiana subsp. canadensis (L.) Ash. & Magnus (Syn .: Circaea canadensis (L.) Hill ): It occurs in eastern North America.
  • Circaea lutetiana subsp. lutetiana : It occurs in Eurasia and North Africa .
  • Circaea lutetiana subsp. quadrisulcata (Maxim.) Ash. & Magnus (Syn .: Circaea quadrisulcata (Maxim.) Franch. & Sav. , Circaea canadensis subsp. Quadrisulcata (Maxim.) Boufford ): It occurs from Eastern Europe to East Asia and in places also in Central Europe (Carinthia, East Tyrol).

use

The great witch's herb is rarely used as an ornamental plant in gardens, a selected variety is 'Caveat Emptor', the leaves of which are spotted pink.

Common names

The other German-language trivial names exist or existed for the Great Hexenkraut: Bäschklät ( Transylvania ), Hexenkraut ( Bern , Mecklenburg , Göttingen ), St. Stephen's herb ( Silesia ) and Waldkletten.

proof

Individual evidence

  1. a b Erich Oberdorfer : Plant-sociological excursion flora for Germany and neighboring areas . With the collaboration of Angelika Schwabe and Theo Müller. 8th, heavily revised and expanded edition. Eugen Ulmer, Stuttgart (Hohenheim) 2001, ISBN 3-8001-3131-5 , pp.  690 .
  2. Circaea in the Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN), USDA , ARS , National Genetic Resources Program. National Germplasm Resources Laboratory, Beltsville, Maryland. Retrieved May 28, 2017.
  3. a b Jiarui Chen, David E. Boufford: Onagraceae. : Circaea Linnaeus - online with the same text as the printed work , In: Wu Zheng-yi, Peter H. Raven, Deyuan Hong (Ed.): Flora of China. Volume 13: Clusiaceae through Araliaceae , Science Press and Missouri Botanical Garden Press, Beijing and St. Louis 2007, ISBN 978-1-930723-59-7 .
  4. ^ Georg August Pritzel , Carl Jessen : The German folk names of plants. New contribution to the German linguistic treasure. Philipp Cohen, Hannover 1882, page 101. ( online ).

Web links

Commons : Great witch's herb ( Circaea lutetiana )  - album with pictures, videos and audio files