Honey-giving milkweed

Honey-giving milkweed
	Honeydew Spurge ( Euphorbia mellifera )
Systematics
	Rosids
	Eurosiden I
Order :	Malpighiales (Malpighiales)
Family :	Spurge Family (Euphorbiaceae)
Genre :	Spurge ( Euphorbia )
Type :	Honey-giving milkweed
Scientific name
	Euphorbia mellifera
	Aiton

The honey-giving spurge ( Euphorbia mellifera ) is a species of the genus spurge ( Euphorbia ) in the family of the spurge plants (Euphorbiaceae). Its Spanish-speaking common name is Tabaiba silvestre, the Portuguese Figuera do Inferno or Alindres.

description

Leaves and inflorescence

Euphorbia mellifera is a tree-shaped plant with heights of up to 15 meters. The trunk is gray and smooth. The leaves are heaped like a rosette at the end of the relatively thin branches. The upper side of the leaf is dark green and the lower side gray-green, almost bare, with a strong pale central nerve. The leaf blade is elongated-lanceolate and acuminate with a length of up to 18 centimeters.

The flowering period extends from February to April, rarely until May. The terminal, panicle inflorescence is hairy. The bracts are elongated ovate and ciliate. The cyathium has about 6.5 millimeters long obovate, purple bractoles and the purple nectar glands are transversely ovate. The flowers are fragrant.

The chromosome set is diploid and is 2n = 40.

ecology

The cicada species Asianidia melliferae Quartau & Remane, 1996 lives in Madeira on Euphorbia mellifera . This species of cicada is probably monophagous, that is, it does not occur in any other plant species.

Occurrence and endangerment

The honey-giving milkweed occurs on the Canary Islands of Tenerife ( Anaga Mountains only ), La Palma and La Gomera as well as on Madeira . In New Zealand, Euphorbia mellifera is rarely wild, but is probably not yet naturalized.

It is very rare in the Canary Islands and is considered "critically endangered" (CR). It is even more common in Madeira.

The honey-giving milkweed grows in damp and shady locations. Euphorbia mellifera usually grows in the shelter of laurel forests ( Laurisilva ). In Madeira, it is particularly common on the artificial watercourses called levadas within the forest, but it also occurs on natural watercourses.

Taxonomy

The species was first described in 1789 by William Aiton . An older synonym for Euphorbia mellifera Aiton is the name Euphorbia longifolia Lam, published a year earlier . nom. rej. The reason is that this name was forgotten and not used for centuries. There is also the homonym Euphorbia longifolia D.Don , which can give rise to confusion. This homonym is a synonym of Euphorbia pseudosikkimensis (Hurus. & Yu.Tanaka) Radcl.-Sm. (Syn .: Euphorbia donii Oudejans ), a species in the Himalayas .

use

Euphorbia mellifera is used as an ornamental plant and is grown in pots, parks and gardens.

literature

Peter Schönfelder , Ingrid Schönfelder: The Kosmos-Kanarenflora (= Kosmos-Naturführer ). Franckh-Kosmos, Stuttgart 1997, ISBN 3-440-06037-3 , p. 130.
Adalbert Hohenester, Walter Welß: Excursion flora for the Canary Islands . Eugen Ulmer, Stuttgart, 1993, ISBN 3-8001-3466-7 , p. 152.
António da Costa, Luis de Franquinho: Madeira. Plantas e Flores. Francisco Ribeiro & Filhos, LDA, Funchal 2008, ISBN 972-9177-37-8 , p. 199.
Á Bañares, G. Blanca, J, Güemes, JC Moreno, S. Ortiz (2004): Atlas y Libro Rojo de la Flora Vascular Amenazada de España. Dirección General de Conservación de la Naturaleza. Madrid, 1,069 pp. ISBN 84-8014-521-8 .

Individual evidence

↑ Euphorbia mellifera at Tropicos.org. In: IPCN Chromosome Reports . Missouri Botanical Garden, St. Louis
↑ Quartau, YES, Remane, R. (1996): Asianidia melliferae sp. n. (Homoptera: Auchenorrhyncha, Cicadellidae), a new leafhopper from Madeira. , Bocagiana Museu Municipal do Funchal (Historia Natural) 181, pp. 1-3.
↑ PB Heenan, PJ de Lange, EK Cameron, BS Parris (2008): Checklist of dicotyledons, gymnosperms, and pteridophytes naturalized or casual in New Zealand: Additional records 2004-2006. New Zealand Journal of Botany Volume 46 (2), pp. 257-283, doi : 10.1080 / 00288250809509765 .
↑ Hortus Kewensis; or, a Catalog of the Plants Cultivated in the Royal Botanic Garden at Kew. Volume 3, p. 493, London 1789 ( online ).
^ RK Brummitt, John McNeill, Scott A. Redhead, John H. Wiersema (2009): Report of the Nomenclature Committee for Vascular Plants: 60. Taxon , Vol. 58, No. 1: 280-292.

Web links

Commons : Honeydew Spurge ( Euphorbia mellifera ) - Album with pictures, videos and audio files

Datasheet from the Royal Horticultural Society .

[IPCN-1] Euphorbia mellifera at Tropicos.org. In: IPCN Chromosome Reports . Missouri Botanical Garden, St. Louis

[2] Quartau, YES, Remane, R. (1996): Asianidia melliferae sp. n. (Homoptera: Auchenorrhyncha, Cicadellidae), a new leafhopper from Madeira. , Bocagiana Museu Municipal do Funchal (Historia Natural) 181, pp. 1-3.

[3] PB Heenan, PJ de Lange, EK Cameron, BS Parris (2008): Checklist of dicotyledons, gymnosperms, and pteridophytes naturalized or casual in New Zealand: Additional records 2004-2006. New Zealand Journal of Botany Volume 46 (2), pp. 257-283, doi : 10.1080 / 00288250809509765 .

[4] Hortus Kewensis; or, a Catalog of the Plants Cultivated in the Royal Botanic Garden at Kew. Volume 3, p. 493, London 1789 ( online ).

[5] RK Brummitt, John McNeill, Scott A. Redhead, John H. Wiersema (2009): Report of the Nomenclature Committee for Vascular Plants: 60. Taxon , Vol. 58, No. 1: 280-292.