American rosemary willow

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American rosemary willow
American rosemary willow (Itea virginica)

American rosemary willow ( Itea virginica )

Systematics
Eudicotyledons
Nuclear eudicotyledons
Order : Saxifragales (Saxifragales)
Family : Iteaceae
Genre : Itea
Type : American rosemary willow
Scientific name
Itea virginica
L.

The American rosemary willow ( Itea virginica ) is a deciduous shrub from the monotypical family Iteaceae with numerous rod-shaped, upright or ascending branches. The leaves have 2 to 9 centimeters long, willow-like leaf blades. The natural range of the species is in the eastern United States. It is often used as an ornamental shrub .

description

Leaves of the cultivar 'Henry's Garnet'
Autumn colors

The American rosemary willow is a deciduous, 1 to 3 meter high shrub with numerous, thin, rod-shaped, upright or ascending branches and initially tomentose hairy shoots. The leaves have a 3 to 10 millimeter long stem. The leaf blade is elliptical to oblong-inverted-lanceolate, 2 to 9 centimeters long and 1 to 4 centimeters wide, pointed or pointed, usually with a wedge-shaped base and a glandular, finely and sharply serrated leaf margin. The upper side of the leaf is deep green, the underside a little lighter, both sides are usually bare. The autumn color is wine to purple red.

The inflorescences are 4 to 15 centimeters long, slender, curved clusters of 20 to 80 flowers with slightly downy-haired inflorescence axis and slightly downy-haired, 1 to 3.5 millimeter long flower stalks. They stand on the ends of leafy branches. The flowers are hermaphroditic, white, fragrant and 1 to 1.5 centimeters wide. The sepals are erect or somewhat divergent, narrowly elongated, 6 to 10 millimeters long and pointed. The petals are narrowly elongated, 2.5 to 6 millimeters long. The stamens are 1 to 2 millimeters long and downy-haired. The stylus is grooved lengthways. Cylindrical, 7 to 10 millimeters long, more or less curved, hairy capsules with permanent stylus are formed as fruits. The seeds are 1 to 1.4 millimeters long and 0.4 to 0.9 millimeters wide, smooth and shiny. The American rosemary willow blooms from March to June.

The number of chromosomes is 2n = 22.

Occurrence and location requirements

The natural range is in the eastern United States and extends from southern New Jersey and Illinois to Florida and Texas . The American rosemary willow grows in swamps and damp forests, on river banks and beaver ponds at heights of up to 300 meters in partially shaded and cool locations.

Systematics

The Itea virginica ( Itea virginica ) is a kind of the genus of rosemary willow ( Itea ) in the family Iteaceae , order saxifragales (Saxifragales). The species was first scientifically described by Carl von Linné in the Species Plantarum in 1753 . The generic name Itea comes from the Greek and was used for various willows ( Salix ). The term was already used by Homer in both the Iliad and the Odyssey . Carl von Linné transferred the name to the genus of rosemary willow, of which he only knew the American rosemary heather described here with its willow-like leaves. The specific epithet virginica means "Virginian" and refers to the British colony of Virginia . It is used for species that are native to North America.

use

American rosemary willow is widely cultivated for its decorative inflorescences, fragrant flowers and colorful autumn foliage.

proof

literature

  • Flora of North America Editorial Committee (Ed.): Flora of North America North of Mexico . Volume 8: Magnoliophyta: Paeoniaceae to Ericaceae . Oxford University Press, New York / Oxford a. a. 2009, ISBN 978-0-19-534026-6 , pp. 7 (English).
  • Andreas Roloff , Andreas Bärtels: Flora of the woods. Purpose, properties and use. With a winter key from Bernd Schulz. 3rd, corrected edition. Eugen Ulmer, Stuttgart (Hohenheim) 2008, ISBN 978-3-8001-5614-6 , p. 354.
  • Jost Fitschen: Woody flora . 12th, revised and expanded edition. Quelle & Meyer, Wiebelsheim 2007, ISBN 3-494-01422-1 , p. 539-540 .
  • Helmut Genaust: Etymological dictionary of botanical plant names. 3rd, completely revised and expanded edition. Nikol, Hamburg 2005, ISBN 3-937872-16-7 (reprint from 1996).

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ German name after Roloff et al .: Flora der Gehölze , p. 354
  2. ↑ a b c d e Nancy R. Morin: Itea virginica , in the Flora of North America , Volume 8, p. 7
  3. ↑ a b c Roloff et al .: Flora der Gehölze , p. 354
  4. ↑ a b Fitschen: Gehölzflora , pp. 539-540
  5. ↑ a b c Itea virginica . In: Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN). United States Department of Agriculture, accessed September 15, 2012 .
  6. ↑ Exactly: Etymological Dictionary of Botanical Plant Names , p. 311
  7. ↑ Exactly: Etymological Dictionary of Botanical Plant Names , p. 686

Web links

Commons : American Rosemary Willow ( Itea virginica )  - Collection of images, videos and audio files