Gynerium sagittatum

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Gynerium sagittatum
Gynerium sagittatum 3.jpg

Gynerium sagittatum

Systematics
Order : Sweet grass (Poales)
Family : Sweet grasses (Poaceae)
Subfamily : Panicoideae
Tribe : Gynerieae
Genre : Gynerium
Type : Gynerium sagittatum
Scientific name of the  tribe
Gynerieae
Sánchez-Ken & LGClark
Scientific name of the  genus
Gynerium
P.Beauv.
Scientific name of the  species
Gynerium sagittatum
( Aubl. ) P.Beauv.

Gynerium sagittatum is a sweet grass and the only species of the genus Gynerium and the tribe Gynerieae from the subfamily of Panicoideae . Its natural range is Central and South America .

description

The sweet grass, including the inflorescence, grows 2 to 10, occasionally up to 15 meters high. It forms runners on the surface of the soil as well as underground rhizomes . The runners often break off from the mother plant, so that several independent plants emerge. The Halmknoten are massive, the stalks are of the long leaf sheaths completely enveloped. The leaves stand in two rows on the stalks, they are divided into a leaf sheath that surrounds the stalk and a leaf blade. The membranous, ciliate ligula is located at the transition between the two parts of the leaf ; it can also consist only of the hair. The leaf blade is not eyed, but has tufts of hair at the base. The leaf blade becomes 1.5 to 2 m long, it is lanceolate to oblong-lanceolate, rough on the edges due to the scales pointing forward. The lower leaf blades fall off over time, while the leaf bases remain on the plant.

The dioecious plant forms a terminal, paniculate , up to 1.3 m large inflorescence . The female flowers are in two-flowered spikelets . The lower husk is smaller and thinner in texture than the upper. The lemmas have long, silky hairs at the end, but no awns . There are two membranous, not fused Lodiculae fused, these are occasionally covered with some hair. In addition to two styles , the female flower also has two rudimentary stamens . The female spikelets break apart in two places, each below the lemma. The male flowers are two to four together in spikelets. Their glumes are about the same size, the lemmas are membranous, glabrous or hairy. Here, too, there are two non-fused Lodiculae. There are two stamens and a rudimentary ovary . The fruit is an elongated caryopsis .

The number of chromosomes is 2n = 44.

Distribution and location requirements

Due to its flexibility, Gynerium sagittatum has spread widely. It can be found from the Antilles and Mexico in the north to Chile and Argentina in the south, on the Pacific coast in the west and in the Amazon basin in the east. The appearance of the plant is correspondingly diverse. Gynerium sagittatum is found climatically in the wetlands of the Amazon basin as well as in the deserts of the Peruvian coast.

Systematics and research history

The first description under the name Saccharum sagittatum comes from Aublet . Palisot de Beauvois later established its own genus, Gynerium , for this grass. The name comes from the Greek words Gyne (γυνε: female) and erion (εριον: wool) and refers to the properties of the female flowers of this dioecious genus.

The genus only includes this species. However, one can distinguish three varieties:

  • Gynerium sagittatum var. Glabrum Renvoize & Kalliola : It occurs in Bolivia.
  • Gynerium sagittatum var. Sagittatum : It occurs from Mexico to tropical America.
  • Gynerium sagittatum var. Subandinum Renvoize & Kalliola : It occurs in Bolivia.

Gynerium was counted among the Arundineae (subfamily Arundinoideae ) due to its reed-like growth . First investigations of ribosomal DNA brought different results: Gynerium in a broad subfamily Arundinoideae or Gynerium as a relative to the Panicoideae and Centothecoideae . Investigations with extended data confirmed the classification in the vicinity of the Panicoideae and Centothecoideae, but the exact position remained uncertain. Therefore, Sánchez-Ken and Clark 2001 proposed a separate tribe Gynerieae for this isolated genus.

A cladogram showing the suspected relationships:




Centothecoideae


   

Gynerium sagittatum


   

Panicoideae





Template: Klade / Maintenance / Style

use

Sombrero Vueltiao

Gynerium sagittatum is used for the production of arrows , harpoons and spears , as well as for the production of wood pulp, in hut construction and for the production of braided fibers for floor mats, baskets and hats. The fibers are obtained by drying the leaf veins. The frugal pioneer plant is also occasionally used to fortify sand dunes . The root has diuretic properties and the resin is very sweet.

The Sombrero Vueltiao , traditional headgear from the coastal region of Colombia , is made from Gynerium sagittatum fibers.

Individual evidence

  1. a b c d e f g h J. Gabriel Sánchez-Ken, Lynn G. Clark: Gynerieae, a New Neotropical Tribe of Grasses (Poaceae) . In: Novon . tape 11 , 2001, p. 350-353 ( botanicus.org ).
  2. a b c d e f Sandrine Lamotte: Excerpt from Essai d'interprétation dynamique des végétations en milieu tropical inondable. La plaine alluviale de Haute Amazonie . Univ. Sciences Montpellier , 1992, accessed October 20, 2010 (French).
  3. L. Watson, MJ Dallwitz: The grass genera of the world: descriptions, illustrations, identification, and information retrieval; including synonyms, morphology, anatomy, physiology, phytochemistry, cytology, classification, pathogens, world and local distribution, and references. In: The Grass Genera of the World. 2008, accessed October 22, 2010 .
  4. ^ Tropicos. (tropicos.org)
  5. a b c d Rafaël Govaerts (Ed.): Gynerium sagittatum. In: World Checklist of Selected Plant Families (WCSP) - The Board of Trustees of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew . Retrieved November 20, 2016.
  6. Sombrero vueltiao: A hat as a sample of the handicrafts of the Atlantic coast. Proexport Colombia, accessed October 20, 2010 .

Web links

Commons : Gynerium sagittatum  - collection of images, videos and audio files