Little sorrel

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Little sorrel
Little sorrel (Rumex acetosella), habitus

Little sorrel ( Rumex acetosella ), habitus

Systematics
Nuclear eudicotyledons
Order : Clove-like (Caryophyllales)
Family : Knotweed family (Polygonaceae)
Subfamily : Polygonoideae
Genre : Dock ( Rumex )
Type : Little sorrel
Scientific name
Rumex acetosella
L.

The little sorrel ( Rumex acetosella ), also called dwarf sorrel or small dock , is a species of the species of dock ( Rumex ).

description

Illustration from Budd's flora of the Canadian Prairie Provinces , 1987
Foliage leaf with a spear-shaped base
blossoms
blossoms
Fruits and seeds
Illustration from Flora Batava , Volume 1

Vegetative characteristics

The little sorrel is a perennial herbaceous plant that reaches heights of 10 to 40 centimeters. From a horizontal rhizome , several stems usually emerge in an arching or upright manner. The stems are unbranched in the lower half, but often branching and reddish at the top.

The leaves are very variable in size and shape, from 1.5 to 5 centimeters long, the ratio between length and width is between three and eight. At the base of the plant the leaves are often long-stalked, but above the center of the stem only short-stalked or sessile. The basal leaves often have a clearly spike-shaped base with two horizontally protruding basal lobes, whereas the base of the stem or inner rosette leaves is often truncated. On the leaves, which have a spear-shaped base, the central lobe is lanceolate and often pointed, but by no means ovoid. The stipple sheaths have a lanceolate, slit tip. The leaves have a bitter taste.

Generative characteristics

The flowering period extends from May to July. The panicle inflorescence has numerous upright or slightly arching protruding, little branched side branches. The flowers are arranged in loosely standing clusters and usually do not arise from the axilla of a bract . The flowers are mostly unisexual and very rarely hermaphroditic. Usually male and female flowers are on different plants.

The valves are not or only slightly larger than the fruit and not grown together with it. The valves have raised nerves and no calluses. The dark brown, shiny nuts are 1.3 to 1.5 millimeters in length and always longer than they are wide. The fruit does not ripen until the end of June, an important detail to distinguish it from the coagulated sorrel ( Rumex angiocarpus ).

Occurrence

The little sorrel is native to almost all of Europe . The southern border of the distribution area is Crete , the northern border the North Cape . To the east, Rumex acetosella is distributed throughout Siberia to Manchuria and Japan . Part areal there in the Atlas Mountains , in south-western and central Asia and in northeastern Asia Minor . In the USA there are neophytic occurrences, where Rumex acetosella spreads invasively and is considered a noxious weed. The species is also a neophyte in Australia, New Zealand, India, Indonesia, Sri Lanka, the Philippines, Hawaii, Mexico, the Caribbean and South America.

The little sorrel needs nutrient-poor, preferably slightly acidic soils , which ideally are loose rather than firm. The sorrel grows most often in heaths, on sandy meadows, gravel surfaces, acidic mats, acidic fields or cracks in walls. In the Alps , the sorrel usually rises to an altitude of around 1500 meters. In the Allgäu Alps it occurs in Bavaria on the southeast slope of the Fellhorn at an altitude of 1950 meters. It occurs in plant communities of the class Sedo-Scleranthetea, Nardo-Callunetea and the associations Polygonion avicularis, Epilobion angustifolii and the sub-association Digitario-Setarienion.

Systematics

The morphological differences between Hüllfrüchtigen sorrel ( Rumex angiocarpus ) Schmalblättrigem sorrel ( Rumex tenuifolius )'s Small sorrel ( Rumex acetosella ) and Rumex graminifolius not work out sharp and so hardly justify their own ways. Genetically, however, the four form a polyploid series:

  • Rumex angiocarpus Murb. , 2n = 14 ( diploid )
  • Rumex tenuifolius (Wallr.) A.Löve , 2n = 28 ( tetraploid )
  • Rumex acetosella L. , 2n = 42 ( hexaploid )
  • Rumex graminifolius Georgi ex Lamb. , 2n = 56 ( octoploid )

However, these different sets of chromosomes and existing sterility barriers justify classification into four different types . Occasionally, however, they are still in a collective species Rumex acetosella agg. summarized.

There are about four subspecies of Rumex acetosella :

  • Rumex acetosella L. subsp. acetosella
  • Rumex acetosella subsp. acetoselloides (Balansa) Den Nijs : It occurs in Greece, Bulgaria, the Crimea, Turkey, Syria and Lebanon.
  • Rumex acetosella subsp. multifidus (L.) Schübl. & G. Martens : It occurs in Italy, Albania, Bulgaria, Macedonia and Greece.
  • Rumex acetosella subsp. pyrenaicus (Pourr. ex Lapeyr.) Akeroyd : It occurs in Portugal, Spain, France, Italy, Morocco and Algeria.

Little sorrel and man

This article or the following section is not adequately provided with supporting documents ( e.g. individual evidence ). Information without sufficient evidence could be removed soon. Please help Wikipedia by researching the information and including good evidence.

The sorrel belongs to the common to very common or only scattered species, depending on the natural area. Due to its broad ecological valence and the property of settling well in new places created by humans and at least temporarily maintaining it, the species is neither in decline nor in need of protection. The sorrel can be mowed twice from June onwards and is not very sensitive to fire.

Plant parts contain abundant oxalic acid , which in large quantities is harmful to human health, especially to those with kidney disease. If it is eaten in large quantities by cattle , it causes diarrhea.

The oldest fossil evidence of the small sorrel comes from the Boreal / Atlantic and was found in 1931 near Moosburg (Federsee) . The oldest literary mention of Baden-Württemberg is from Johann Bauhin from 1592. Hieronymus Harder also collected this species in Baden-Württemberg in the 16th century.

swell

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d e Rumex acetosella in the Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN), USDA , ARS , National Genetic Resources Program. National Germplasm Resources Laboratory, Beltsville, Maryland. Retrieved August 15, 2017.
  2. ↑ Erhard Dörr, Wolfgang Lippert : Flora of the Allgäu and its surroundings. Volume 1, IHW, Eching 2001, ISBN 3-930167-50-6 , pp. 443-444.
  3. ^ Erich Oberdorfer : Plant-sociological excursion flora for Germany and neighboring areas . With the collaboration of Angelika Schwabe and Theo Müller. 8th, heavily revised and expanded edition. Eugen Ulmer, Stuttgart (Hohenheim) 2001, ISBN 3-8001-3131-5 , pp.  330-331 .

literature

  • Dietmar Aichele, Heinz-Werner Schwegler: The flowering plants of Central Europe. Volume 2: Yew plants to butterfly plants . Franckh-Kosmos, Stuttgart 1994, ISBN 3-440-06192-2 .
  • Oskar Sebald, Siegmund Seybold, Georg Philippi (Hrsg.): The fern and flowering plants of Baden-Württemberg. Volume 1: General Part, Special Part (Pteridophyta, Spermatophyta). 2nd, supplemented edition, Eugen Ulmer, Stuttgart 1993, ISBN 3-8001-3322-9 .
  • Sergei L. Mosyakin: Rumex. In: Flora of North America Editorial Committee (Ed.): Flora of North America North of Mexico . Volume 5: Magnoliophyta: Caryophyllidae, part 2 . Oxford University Press, New York / Oxford a. a. 2005, ISBN 0-19-522211-3 (English). (online) (in English ).
  • Li Anjen, Alisa E. Grabovskaya-Borodina, Sergei L. Mosyakin: Rumex. In: Wu Zhengyi, Peter H. Raven, Deyuan Hong (Eds.): Flora of China . Volume 5: Ulmaceae through Basellaceae . Science Press / Missouri Botanical Garden Press, Beijing / St. Louis 2003, ISBN 1-930723-27-X , pp. 335 (English). (online) (in English ).

Web links

Commons : Little Sorrel ( Rumex acetosella )  - Album with pictures, videos and audio files