Canary Bellflower
| Canary Bellflower | ||||||||||||
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Canary Bellflower ( Canarina canariensis ) |
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| Canarina canariensis | ||||||||||||
| ( L. ) Vatke |
The Canary bellflower , including Canary Bellflower called ( Canarina canariensis ) is a plant that belongs to the family of Bellflower Family belongs (Campanulaceae). It occurs only in the Canary Islands , is their national flower and is called "Bicácaro" there.
Description and ecology
Vegetative characteristics
The Canary Bellflower grows as a perennial herbaceous plant and can climb or crawl several meters (up to three meters) high. As a persistence organ, it has a bulbous to beet-shaped storage root, into which it moves during the dry summer months and then drives out again in the wet season. The plants contain a gummy milky sap . The constantly against arranged on the stem leaves are divided into petiole and leaf blade.
Generative characteristics
In the Canary Islands, the heyday is in the winter months. The stalked flowers stand individually in the leaf axils. The relatively large flowers are hermaphrodite and radial symmetry with a double flower envelope . There are six sepals. In contrast to the genus Campanula , the flowers of the genus Canarina are six-fold. The orange-colored, darkly veined corolla opens into the typical bell shape with a length of 3 to 6 cm. The flowers produce a lot of nectar , an indication of birds as pollinators. In fact, they are pollinated by the willow warbler ( Phylloscopus collybita canariensis ) (the Canarian relative of the chiffchaff ).
The Canary Bellflower produces berries in contrast to Campanula , which have capsule fruits. The juicy berries, which are yellow or orange when ripe, are almost black and egg-shaped with a diameter of 3 to 4 cm. The fruits served as food.
Occurrence
The Canary Bellflower is endemic to the central and western Canary Islands. It blooms in the winter months in damp and shady locations in the fern-rich laurel forests (Laurisilva). These are limited to the medium altitude (at an altitude of around 500 to 1100 meters) in the cloud zone, in the humid climate under the influence of the northeast passat . The Canary Bellflower is often found in the Anaga Mountains of the island of Tenerife , for example , and also on Gran Canaria . It is rare on La Gomera , on La Palma it can still be seen in the Los Tilos forest near San Andrés y Sauces . On El Hierro you can find them on the mountain road from Frontera to the Malpaso summit.
use
The Canary Bellflower is a grateful and easy to care for plant species for a winter garden , as experiments have shown.
photos
Stalked flower from the side; The six green sepals and the six-lobed, orange-colored corolla are clearly visible.
Radially symmetrical flower from below
Habit and leaves
Storage organ
literature
- Peter Schönfelder , Ingrid Schönfelder: The Kosmos Canary Islands flora: over 850 species of Canary Islands flora and 48 tropical ornamental trees. Franckh Kosmos Verlag, Stuttgart 2005, ISBN 3-440-10750-7 .
- Adalbert Hohenester, Walter Welss: Excursion flora for the Canary Islands. Verlag Eugen Ulmer, Stuttgart 1992, ISBN 3-8001-3466-7 .
- Datasheet at FloraDeCanarias.com . (Sections Description and Occurrence)
