Cretan ebony bush

Cretan ebony bush
	Cretan ebony bush ( Ebenus cretica )
Systematics
Order :	Fabales (Fabales)
Family :	Legumes (Fabaceae)
Subfamily :	Butterflies (Faboideae)
Tribe :	Hedysareae
Genre :	Even
Type :	Cretan ebony bush
Scientific name
	Ebenus cretica
	L.

Inflorescences

The Cretan ebony bush ( Ebenus cretica ), Greek Έβενος κρητικός , is a plant species from the legume family (Fabaceae) endemic to the Greek island of Crete . With the trees of the genus Diospyros spp. Known for their hard and dark wood . ( Ebony trees ), despite the name, is not closely related.

description

The Cretan ebony shrub is a shrub that reaches heights of 30 to 70 centimeters. The plant is silky and hairy whitish. The threefold or imparipinnate leaves with a partly runny, short spindle are petiolate. The pointed, almost sessile and entire leaflet leaflets are narrowly eilanceolate to obscure eilanceolate and have silky hairs. There are long-pointed and ovate, membranous stipules.

Dense, terminal, pyramidal and spiked inflorescences are formed. The pink to reddish, almost sessile corolla of the hermaphrodite butterfly blossoms , with membranous, pointed bracts , is 10 to 15 millimeters long. The cup-shaped calyx has 5 long, awl and whitish, feathery hairy tips. The 10 stamens are fused einbrüderig and the ovary is hairy.

The main flowering time of the Cretan ebony bush extends from April to June, but flowering can also begin in December. Small and one-seeded, two-seeded, non-opening, slightly flattened, round to egg-shaped legumes are formed in the permanent calyx.

The number of chromosomes is 2n = 14.

Occurrence

In many areas of Crete, the Cretan ebony bush forms extensive populations in rocky habitats on stony slopes and canyon walls, but also on roadsides and paths. In some locations it is one of the determining plants of the Phrygana .

Systematics

Other related species occur in the Mediterranean area:

Ebenus armitagei Schweinf. & Deaf. in Egypt.
Ebenus pinnata Aiton in Morocco, Algeria and Tunisia.
Ebenus sibthorpii DC. in Greece and on the Aegean islands.

use

Single inflorescence of Ebenus cretica

Illustration of the fruit in the perennial calyx

The inflorescences of Ebenus cretica were previously used as pillow fillings because of their thick hair .

literature

TG Tutin , VH Heywood u. a .: Flora Europaea. Vol. 2, Cambridge Univ. Press, 1968, ISBN 0-521-06662-X , p. 191.
The flora of Crete , Casa Editrice Bonechi, Florence 1999, ISBN 88-8029-972-7 .
Dagmar Lange, Monika Wächter: Travel Guide Nature Crete. BLV, Munich 1999, ISBN 3-405-15524-X .

Web links

Commons : Cretan Ebony Bush ( Ebenus cretica ) - Album with pictures, videos and audio files

Thomas Meyer, Michael Hassler: Mediterranean flora. Datasheet and photos .
Ebenus cretica on flowersofchania.com (illustration).
Ebenus cretica at Plants and Flowers from Romania but not only (pictures).

Individual evidence

^ ^A ^b Peter Schönfelder , Ingrid Schönfelder: The new cosmos Mediterranean flora. Franckh Kosmos Verlag Stuttgart 2008. ISBN 978-3-440-10742-3 . P. 210.
^ Ebenus cretica at Tropicos.org. In: IPCN Chromosome Reports . Missouri Botanical Garden, St. Louis
↑ ILDIS World Database of Legumes 2010. Datasheet Ebenus In: Euro + Med Plantbase - the information resource for Euro-Mediterranean plant diversity.

[Schönfelder2008-1] A ^b Peter Schönfelder , Ingrid Schönfelder: The new cosmos Mediterranean flora. Franckh Kosmos Verlag Stuttgart 2008. ISBN 978-3-440-10742-3 . P. 210.

[IPCN-2] Ebenus cretica at Tropicos.org. In: IPCN Chromosome Reports . Missouri Botanical Garden, St. Louis

[Euro+Med-3] ILDIS World Database of Legumes 2010. Datasheet Ebenus In: Euro + Med Plantbase - the information resource for Euro-Mediterranean plant diversity.