Krugiodendron ferreum

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Krugiodendron ferreum
Systematics
Rosids
Eurosiden I
Order : Rose-like (rosales)
Family : Buckthorn Family (Rhamnaceae)
Genre : Pitcher diodendron
Type : Krugiodendron ferreum
Scientific name
Krugiodendron ferreum
( Vahl ) Urb.

Krugiodendron ferreum is one of two species of the genus Krugiodendron from the family of the Buckthorn family (Rhamnaceae). It isnative tosouthern North and Central America and the West Indies . The Latin generic name honors Carl Wilhelm Leopold Krug (1833–1898), a German businessman and botanist.

description

Krugiodendron ferreum are evergreen shrubs or small trees with a dense crown, which can reach a height of about 10 meters and whose thick, leathery leaves are usually arranged opposite one another. The leaves are up to 6 centimeters long and elliptical to ovate with a whole, sometimes wavy edge and the tip is rounded or indented.

The fragrant, five-fold and hermaphrodite, short-stalked flowers with a simple flower envelope are in un- or short-stalked, axillary, umbel-like , few-flowered cymes . The short flower cup is bowl-shaped, funnel-shaped. Petals are missing, the five tepals with an inner, central crest are triangular, spread out in a star shape and yellow-greenish. The fleshy, notched disc lies in a ring around the base of the upper, two-chambered ovary , which has a short stylus with a two-lobed stigma . There are five free stamens .

The fruits are rounded small blackish purple to, to about 8-10 mm large stone fruits with a mono- to zweifächrigen stone core , the thin pericarp is fleshy, the endocarp bony. An endosperm in the seeds is missing.

Distribution and systematics

Krugiodendron ferreum occurs in south Florida , Mexico , parts of Central America and the West Indies.

The species originally described by Martin Vahl as Rhamnus ferrea was placed in its own genus Krugiodendron in 1902 by Ignatz Urban , of which it is a type species . Until the first description of Krugiodendron acuminatum in 2003, the genus was considered monotypical .

use

The wood is extremely heavy and hard, as well as very durable, it is one of the heaviest in the world and weighs up to over 1300 kg / m 3 . It is also known as black ironwood , quebracho or (black) leadwood .

The sweet fruits are edible.

proof

  1. ↑ Lotte Burkhardt: Directory of eponymous plant names. Botanic Garden and Botanical Museum Berlin, Freie Universität Berlin, Berlin 2016, ISBN 978-3-946292-10-4 , doi : 10.3372 / epolist2016 .
  2. ↑ a b c D. Medan, C. Schirarend: Rhamnaceae In: Klaus Kubitzki (Ed.): The Families and Genera of Vascular Plants. Volume VI: Flowering Plants - Dicotyledons - Celastrales, Oxalidales, Rosales, Cornales, Ericales , 2004, p. 333, ISBN 978-3-540-06512-8 .
  3. ^ Gil Nelson: The Shrubs and Woody Vines of Florida. Pineapple Press, 1996, ISBN 1-56164-106-5 , p. 270.
  4. ^ Gil Nelson, Christopher J. Earle, Richard Spellenberg: Trees of Eastern North America. Princeton Univ. Press, 2014, ISBN 978-0-691-14590-7 , p. 484.
  5. ↑ José González Ramírez, Luis Poveda Álvarez: Una segunda especie de Krugiodendron (Rhamnaceae) en el Neotrópico. In: Lankesteriana. Vol. 8, pp. 16-18, 2003.

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