Honey bushes

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Honey bushes
Cyclopia meyeriana

Cyclopia meyeriana

Systematics
Eurosiden I
Order : Fabales (Fabales)
Family : Legumes (Fabaceae)
Subfamily : Butterflies (Faboideae)
Tribe : Podalyrieae
Genre : Honey bushes
Scientific name
Cyclopia
Vent.

The honey bushes ( Cyclopia ), English common names are "honey bush" or "bush tea" ( Afrikaans "Heunigbostee" or "Boertee") are a genus of plants that to the subfamily of Pea (Faboideae) within the family of legumes belongs (Fabaceae). The approximately 23 species are native to the Cape flora ( Capensis ) of South Africa, more precisely in the Western Cape and Eastern Cape provinces . Some species are known because honeybush tea is harvested from them.

description

Cyclopia falcata
Cyclopia genistoides , illustration by Taubert

Cyclopia species grow as independently upright shrubs . The opposite leaves are tripartite, unpaired pinnate. The three (in some species almost needle-like) narrow to broad leaflets are glabrous or hairy and their edge is often rolled down.

One can easily recognize the Cyclopia species by their sweetly scented, yellow butterfly flowers that stand individually in the leaf axils. The hermaphrodite flowers are zygomorphic and five-fold with a double flower envelope . The five sepals are fused very briefly at their base and the calyx looks indented at the base. The five petals are yellow. The ten stamens have widened stamens that are only briefly fused at their base.

The legumes are elongated. The seeds have a waxy appendix.

distribution

The genus Cyclopia is part of the Cape flora ( Capensis ). In South Africa it is only native to the Western Cape and Eastern Cape provinces . All species thrive only in the fynbos from the cedar mountains ( Cape fold belt ) south to the Cape Peninsula and east to Port Elizabeth . Most of the time, individual species are tied to very small areas and then also to very special habitats, for example mountain peaks, wetlands, strips of slate or damp southern slopes.

Systematics

With the type species Cyclopia genistoides (L.) R.Br. the genus Cyclopia was set up in 1808 by Étienne Pierre Ventenat in Decas Generum Novorum , p. 8. The generic name Cyclopia is derived from the Greek words kuklos for circle and pous for foot and refers to the almost free sepals. The genus Cyclopia Vent. belongs to the tribe Podalyrieae in the subfamily of the Faboideae within the family of the Fabaceae .

The genus honey bush ( Cyclopia ) includes about 23 species :

Honey bush tea

use

Both vegetative parts of the plant and the flowers are used to make honey bush tea. The flowers give off a "honey" smell, which is why the tea is harvested during flowering, as the aroma is sweetest at this time. Due to its very low tannic acid content , the caffeine-free honeybush tea is very beneficial and digestible.

The honeybush tea was originally made by Cyclopia genistoides , but is now mainly harvested by Cyclopia subternata and Cyclopia intermedia . To a lesser extent, other species are also used for this.

Some honey bush species are also used as ornamental plants in subtropical parks and gardens .

literature

  • John Manning: Field Guide to Wild Flowers of South Africa , Struik Publishers (Pty) Ltd. ISBN 978-1-770077584 ( Cyclopia on p. 300)
  • AL Schutte: Systematics of the genus Cyclopia Vent. (Fabaceae: Podalyrieae) , In: Edinburgh J. Bot. , Volume 54, 1997, pp. 125-170.

Individual evidence

  1. ^ A b Cyclopia in the Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN), USDA , ARS , National Genetic Resources Program. National Germplasm Resources Laboratory, Beltsville, Maryland.
  2. ↑ At ILDIS = International Legume Database & Information Service , enter Cyclopia in the search mask.

Web links

Commons : Honey Bushes ( Cyclopia )  - Collection of images, videos and audio files