Hesperaloe nocturna
| Hesperaloe nocturna | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Hesperaloe nocturna |
||||||||||||
| Systematics | ||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||
| Scientific name | ||||||||||||
| Hesperaloe nocturna | ||||||||||||
| gentry |
Hesperaloe nocturna (English common name "Night-blooming Hesperaloe") is a species of the genus Hesperaloe in the agave family .
description
Hesperaloe nocturna grows stemless, is rhizomatous and forms lumps 1 to 2 m in diameter. The variable, flexible, upright, linear to lanceolate, grass-like, light green leaves are 100 to 150 cm long, at the base 1 to 2 cm wide, thinning towards the end with a pointed thorn. The brown, gray leaf margins are variable, finely white fibrous.
The inflorescence is 1 to 4 m high with several branches in the upper half. The pink to red night blooming, bell-shaped to wheel-shaped flowers are 25 to 30 mm long and up to 30 mm wide. The flowering period is from April to July.
The woody capsules, ovate to round when ripe, are 25 to 40 mm long and 25 to 30 mm wide. The textured black seeds are 6 to 11 mm long, 5 to 8 mm wide and 1 mm thick. The seeds ripen from June to August, depending on the flowering time.
The grass-like, long leaves are characteristic, in contrast to Hesperaloe parviflora , which has shorter and less numerous leaves. During the rest period, the species is easy to confuse with the bear grass Nolina microcarpa . However, it has serrated leaf margins. Hesperaloe nocturna blooms like Hesperaloe tenuifolia at night. Hybrids of Hesperaloe parviflora and Hesperaloe nocturna are known.
Distribution and systematics
Hesperaloe nocturna is located in Mexico in the state of Sonora in the Sonoran Desert in a limited area at an altitude of 950 to 1150 m. The species grows together with Yucca arizonica and Fouqueria splendens .
The current description by Howard Scott Gentry under the name Hesperaloe nocturna was published in 1967.
Hesperaloe nocturna is frost hardy in Germany down to minus 14 ° C. It is hardly represented in collections.
literature
- Fritz Hochstätter: The genus Hesperaloe (Agavaceae) . In: CactusWorld . Volume 27, No. 2, p. 102, 2009
Individual evidence
- ↑ Madroño . Volume 19, No. 2, 1967, pp. 74-78
