Meadow hogweed

Meadow hogweed
Meadow hogweed ( Heracleum sphondylium )
Systematics
Euasterids II Order : Umbelliferae (Apiales) Family : Umbelliferae (Apiaceae) Subfamily : Apioideae Genre : Bear Claw ( Heracleum ) Type : Meadow hogweed
Scientific name
Heracleum sphondylium
L.

The or the meadow hogweed ( Heracleum sphondylium ), also called common hogweed , is a plant species in the umbelliferae family (Apiaceae). In contrast to the giant hogweed ( Heracleum mantegazzianum ) it is native to Europe . Because the lobed stalked and hairy leaves resemble animal feet, this plant species, also known as Bärentap (p) e , has been given the name Bärenklau (= "Bear Claw").

description

illustration

Leaf sheaths are large and showy

Roughly hairy, angularly furrowed, hollow stem

Lower part of a plant with basal leaves and a strong stem

Double-gold inflorescence

The meadow hogweed is a perennial , herbaceous plant that reaches heights of up to 1.5 meters. The basic axis is thick, branched and deeply rooted. The plant gives off an unpleasant odor and is rich in essential oils . The stem is angularly grooved. The leaves are simply pinnate, the pinnate sections are pinnate and bluntly serrate. The leaves have a large leaf sheath that protects buds (= Ochrea ).

There are many flowers in a double-ended inflorescence. Its flowers are white, often tinged with a light greenish or light pink color. The nectar lies open in the bloom, similar to the field chervil, and is therefore also easily accessible to short-nosed insects . The flowering period extends from June to October.

The fruits are winged double achenes . The fruits ripen between July and September.

The meadow hogweed flowers from June to September.

The number of chromosomes is 2n = 22.

ecology

The meadow hogweed is a semi-rosette plant.

The flowers are "nectar-bearing disc flowers" and are arranged in umbels. The marginal flowers are "radiant". It is the eponymous species for the Heracleum type . The flowers of the main umbilicus are mostly hermaphroditic, the rest of the flowers often have male and, due to sterile anthers or pollen grains, functionally female. The flowers are pre-male ; H. the stamens stretch outwards after their development and discharge the pollen. The stylus with the heady scar usually develop later. They are surrounded by a greenish, abundant nectar-secreting discus ("stylus cushion"). This plant species is used as a source of pollen by the hogweed sand bee ( Andrena rosae ), which specializes in umbellifers . Important pollinators are various mosquitoes, flies, hymenoptera, butterflies, fringed winged beetles and beetles, e.g. B. the colorful longhorn beetle. The meadow hogweed is the caterpillar forage plant for the butterfly species silver-point munched owl, loosestrife, hogweed wire-haired owl, moon-spotted moth, hairline moth, nipple moth, hogweed moth and purple owl.

The fruits are winged double achenes and spread with the wind as "umbrella fliers" ( anemochory ). The main spread occurs through water adherence ( nautochory ) and random spread through grazing animals ( zoochory ) and manure.

Occurrence

The meadow hogweed is widespread in fat meadows and herbaceous vegetation , on banks and ditches, in alluvial forests and their borders and in tall herbaceous fields . It prefers to grow in loose, moist soil. According to Ellenberg , it is a half-light plant, a moderate heat pointer with oceanic continental number, a freshness pointer, a pronounced nitrogen pointer and an orderly character of fertilized fresh meadows and pastures ( Arrhenatheretalia ).

Subspecies and their distribution

The meadow hogweed, also known as Bärwurz , is a very diverse species. Nine subspecies are named in the Flora Europaea . Two further subspecies are given for Turkey, five for North Africa. In Germany there are three subspecies:

• Mountain Hogweed ( Heracleum sphondylium subsp. Elegans (Crantz) Schübl. & G.Martens , Syn .: Heracleum sphondylium subsp. Montanum (Schleicher ex Gaudin) Briq. , Heracleum lanatum Michx. , Heracleum sphondylium subsp. Lanatum (Michx.) Á Löve & D. Löve , Heracleum maximum W.Bartram , Heracleum montanum Schleich. Ex Gaudin ): It comes from Morocco and Spain, Portugal, Italy, France, Germany, Switzerland, Austria, the Balkan Peninsula, Poland, Hungary, Romania, to Asian Turkey. The chromosome number is 2n = 22. It is a type of character of the adenostylion association. In the Allgäu Alps in Bavaria, it rises on the southeast ridge of the Höfats up to an altitude of 2100 meters.
• Green-flowered meadow hogweed ( Heracleum sphondylium subsp. Sibiricum (L.) Simonk. , Syn .: Heracleum sibiricum L. ): occurs in Europe from France, Italy and Central Europe to northeast and southeast Europe and is a neophyte in Great Britain. The chromosome number is 2n = 22. It occurs in societies of the order Arrhenatheretalia, but also of the class Epilobietea or the Calthion association.
• Common meadow hogweed ( Heracleum sphondylium L. subsp. Sphondylium ): The number of chromosomes is 2n = 22. It occurs in Europe and Turkey. It occurs mainly in societies of the Arrhenatheretalia order, but also in the Atropion or Alno-Ulmion associations.

Further subspecies are:

• Heracleum sphondylium subsp. alpinum (L.) Bonnier & Layens (Syn .: Heracleum alpinum L. ): It occurs only in the Jura in France and in Switzerland. It is a species of the Aceri-Fagetum and its fringing societies.
• Heracleum sphondylium subsp. artvinense (Manden.) PH Davis : It occurs in Turkey.
• Heracleum sphondylium subsp. atlanticum Maire : It occurs in Algeria.
• Heracleum sphondylium subsp. aurasiacum (Maire) Dobignard : It occurs in Algeria.
• Heracleum sphondylium subsp. cyclocarpum (K. Koch) PH Davis : It occurs in Turkey and Georgia.
• Heracleum sphondylium subsp. embergeri Maire : It occurs in Morocco.
• Heracleum sphondylium subsp. orsinii (cast.) H.Neumayer : It occurs in the central and southern Apennines and in the mountains of the Balkan Peninsula and in European Turkey.
• Heracleum sphondylium subsp. pyrenaicum (Lam.) Bonnier & Layens (Syn .: Heracleum pyrenaicum Lam. ): It occurs in the Pyrenees , the Alps, in the northern Apennines and in the mountains of the Balkan Peninsula. The number of chromosomes is 2n = 22.
• Heracleum sphondylium subsp. rotundatum (Maire) Dobignard : It occurs in Morocco.
• Heracleum sphondylium subsp. suaveolens (Litard. & Maire) Dobignard : It occurs in Morocco.
• Heracleum sphondylium subsp. ternatum (Velen.) Brummitt (Syn .: Heracleum ternatum Velen. ): It occurs in the northern and central Apennines, in the mountains of the Balkan Peninsula and in Turkey.
• Heracleum sphondylium subsp. transsilvanicum (Schur) Brummitt (Syn .: Heracleum palmatum Baumg. , Heracleum transsilvanicum Schur ): It occurs in the Carpathian Mountains of Poland, Romania and the Ukraine.
• Heracleum sphondylium subsp. verticillatum (Pančić) Brummitt : It occurs on the Balkan Peninsula.

Due to the great variability of the characteristics and the occurrence of intermediate forms, the classification of Heracleum alpinum , Heracleum elegans and Heracleum sibiricum as separate species does not seem justified.

Ingredients and use

After touching the plant, unpleasant reddening and swelling of the skin can occur ( "meadow dermatitis" ). They are UV-A causing -Sensitivity, phototoxic acting furocoumarines triggered. Of this class of substances, the roots contain pimpinellin , isopimpinellin , sphondin and bergapten , and the fruits also contain xanthotoxin and imperatorin . Unripe fruits have the highest furocoumarin content.

Young leaves are good fodder, e.g. B. for rabbits. For fair-skinned animals, however, caution should be exercised when feeding large quantities because the furocoumarin content of the herb can cause inflammatory skin reactions when exposed to sunlight.

Use in the herbal kitchen

The meadow hogweed is non-toxic when young. Young leaves and shoots are therefore used as wild vegetables by humans . For larger specimens, the stem can be peeled and eaten raw or made into compote. Sensitive people should wear gloves when peeling the hairy, prickly stems to avoid skin irritation.

literature

• Gertrud Scherf: Meadow flowers - the nature guide with a difference. BLV-Verlag, Munich 2004, ISBN 3-405-16909-7 .
• Ruprecht Düll , Herfried Kutzelnigg : Pocket dictionary of plants in Germany and neighboring countries. The most common Central European species in portrait . 7th, corrected and enlarged edition. Quelle & Meyer, Wiebelsheim 2011, ISBN 978-3-494-01424-1 .
• Lutz Roth , Max Daunderer , Kurt Kormann : Poison Plants - Plant Poisons. Poisonous plants from AZ. Emergency assistance. Occurrence. Effect. Therapy. Allergic and phototoxic reactions . 4th edition. Nikol, Hamburg 2000, ISBN 3-933203-31-7 (reprint from 1994).

Web links

Commons : Meadow hogweed ( Heracleum sphondylium )  - Album with pictures, videos and audio files

• Meadow hogweed. In: FloraWeb.de.
• Meadow hogweed . In: BiolFlor, the database of biological-ecological characteristics of the flora of Germany.
• Heracleum sphondylium L. s. l. In: Info Flora , the national data and information center for Swiss flora . Retrieved January 9, 2016.
• Distribution in the northern hemisphere according to Eric Hultén
• Thomas Meyer: Bärenklau data sheet with identification key and photos at Flora-de: Flora von Deutschland (old name of the website: Flowers in Swabia )
• Further pictures: [1] , [2] and [3]
• Meadow hogweed (Heracleum sphondylium) at Poison Plants.com

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b c d e} Heracleum sphondylium at Tropicos.org. In: IPCN Chromosome Reports . Missouri Botanical Garden, St. Louis
2. ↑ Sand bees: Andrena rosae. Retrieved May 20, 2019 . 
3. ↑ Meadow hogweed, Heracleum sphondylium - Flowering plants - NatureGate. Retrieved May 20, 2019 . 
4. ↑ FloraWeb: Data and information on wild plants and vegetation in Germany. Retrieved May 20, 2019 . 
5. ↑ Heinz Ellenberg : Vegetation of Central Europe with the Alps in an ecological, dynamic and historical perspective (=  UTB for science. Large series . Volume 8104 ). 5th, heavily changed and improved edition. Eugen Ulmer, Stuttgart (Hohenheim) 1996, ISBN 3-8252-8104-3 .
6. ↑ Helmut Genaust: Etymological dictionary of botanical plant names. 2nd, improved edition. Birkhäuser, Basel / Boston / Berlin 1983, ISBN 3-7643-1399-4 , p. 346.
7. ↑ See also Jürgen Martin: Die 'Ulmer Wundarznei'. Introduction - Text - Glossary on a monument to German specialist prose from the 15th century. Königshausen & Neumann, Würzburg 1991 (= Würzburg medical-historical research. Volume 52), ISBN 3-88479-801-4 (also medical dissertation Würzburg 1990), p. 117 ( berwurzenkrut ).
8. ↑ ^{a b} Richard Kenneth Brummitt : Heracleum L. In: TG Tutin, VH Heywood, NA Burges, DM Moore, DH Valentine, SM Walters, DA Webb (eds.): Flora Europaea . Volume 2: Rosaceae to Umbelliferae . Cambridge University Press, Cambridge 1968, ISBN 0-521-06662-X , pp. 364–366 (English, limited preview in Google Book Search).
9. ↑ ^{a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r} Ralf Hand: Apiaceae - Heracleum sphondylium . In: Euro + Med Plantbase - the information resource for Euro-Mediterranean plant diversity. Berlin 2011.
10. ↑ ^{a b c d} 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.  722 .
11. ↑ Erhard Dörr, Wolfgang Lippert : Flora of the Allgäu and its surroundings. Volume 2, IHW, Eching 2004, ISBN 3-930167-61-1 , p. 287.
12. ↑ G. Weimark, E. Nilsson: Phototoxicity in Heracleum sphondylium. In: Planta medica. Volume 38, No. 2, 1980, pp. 97-111.