Cuckoo carnation

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Cuckoo carnation
Cuckoo's light carnation (Lychnis flos-cuculi)

Cuckoo's light carnation ( Lychnis flos-cuculi )

Systematics
Nuclear eudicotyledons
Order : Clove-like (Caryophyllales)
Family : Carnation family (Caryophyllaceae)
Subfamily : Caryophylloideae
Genre : Glue herbs ( Silene )
Type : Cuckoo carnation
Scientific name
Lychnis flos-cuculi
( L. ) Clairv.

The ragged robin ( Silene flos-cuculi (L.) Clairv. , Syn. : Lychnis flos-cuculi L. ) is a plant in the family of Caryophyllaceae (Caryophyllaceae).

Origin of name

A whole range of plant species have the cuckoo in their name. In this type of plant, the flowering period in May and June is associated with the call of the cuckoo and the appearance of "cuckoo saliva" (see below); this also explains the name.

description

illustration
blossom

Appearance and leaf

The cuckoo's light carnation is a perennial herbaceous plant that reaches heights of 30 to 90 cm. Leaf rosettes, short stems without flowers and tall, upright, flowering stems are formed. The stalked basal leaves are ciliate on the edge and shaped like a spatula. The upper opposite stem leaves are lanceolate in shape.

Inflorescence and flower

The flowering period extends from May to July. A loose, trugdoldigen inflorescence is formed. The flowers are predominantly hermaphroditic, but purely female and purely male plant specimens also occur. The flowers are five-fold with a double bloom and have a diameter of about 4 centimeters. The five sepals are fused into a 6 to 10 millimeter long, ten-nerved, hairless calyx tube. The five petals are 15 to 25 mm long and four times (rarely only twice) deeply slit. As is typical for the species of the large genus, they form a secondary crown. Most of the plant specimens bloom red, but there are also white specimens. There are five branches of the style.

Cuckoo's pollen grain (400 ×)

Fruit and seeds

The capsule fruit is spherical with a diameter of up to 8 millimeters and opens at the top with five teeth; there she releases the seeds. The dark brown, kidney-shaped, about 1 millimeter large seeds have a surface that is densely covered with tiny tips. Fruit ripening takes place from July to October.

Chromosome number

The number of chromosomes is n = 12.

ecology

The cuckoo's light carnation is a hemicryptophyte and an evergreen semi-rosette plant.

It is not uncommon to find white, foamy masses on their stems with the larvae of the foam cicada ( Philaenus spumerius ) sucking plant sap there . These foams are popularly called "cuckoo saliva" because they were associated with the return of the cuckoo in early May. The same phenomenon can be found in the meadow foam herb ( Cardamine pratensis ).

The flowers are pre-male "plate flowers". The stem under the nodes (nodes) is sticky; this provides protection against creeping up against smaller insects.

The divided petals increase the attraction of the pollinators . The side crown, the "little crown", is an extension of the "crown tube". The free petals are joined together like a tube by the calyx tube. The pollination is done by insects . Because of the deep calyx, only long-nosed insects such as butterflies and long-nosed bees are able to do this . Also, self-pollination is possible.

With five outwardly curved teeth, the capsule fruits jump open when dry and scatter the seeds as wind and animal shakers.

Blossom aspect at the natural site

Vegetative reproduction occurs through runners ; this often leads to larger, genetically uniform, because clonal, plant populations.

Occurrence

The cuckoo's light carnation is common in the temperate areas of Europe and Western Asia. It thrives at altitudes of up to 2000 meters. It was introduced to the New World in the 19th century . There, as in Japan, she is a neophyte . In the Allgäu Alps , it rises in the Kleiner Walsertal between the Ifenhütte and Gottesacker at altitudes of up to 1720 meters.

It thrives best in damp, moderately fat meadows , moors and swamps. They are not found in heavily over-fertilized meadows, but in wet, nutrient-poor ditches in the vicinity. In Central Europe it is mainly distributed in Calthion companies . It is an order character of the Molinietalia, but also occurs in moist societies of the order Arrhenatheretalia. In the ecological pointer values ​​according to Ellenberg , the cuckoo's light carnation is indicated as a penumbral plant for a moderately warm sea climate. The displayed soil condition is very variable in moisture.

Cuckoo carnation with white flowers

Systematics

The first publication took place in 1753 under the name ( Basionym ) Lychnis flos-cuculi by Carl von Linné . The new combination to Silene flos-cuculi (L.) Clairv. was published in 1811 by Joseph Philippe de Clairville .

The following subspecies can be distinguished:

  • Lychnis flos-cuculi L. subsp. flos-cuculi ; Petals four-lobed with straight, pointed tips, mostly pink
  • Lychnis flos-cuculi subsp. subintegra Hayek (Syn .: Silene flos-cuculi subsp. subintegra (Hayek) Greuter & Burdet ); Petals only two-lobed with blunt tips, mostly white; but it is also viewed as a separate species and is then called Silene subintegra (Hayek) Greuter or Lychnis subintegra (Hayek) Turrill . It occurs only on the Balkan Peninsula.

use

In the past, the cuckoo's light carnation was of little importance in folk medicine . Today it is used as an ornamental plant in gardens or on garden ponds.

Sources and further information

The article is mainly based on the following documents:

  • Dietmar Aichele, Marianne Golte-Bechtle: What is blooming there? Wild flowering plants of Central Europe. 54th edition. Franckh-Kosmos, Stuttgart, 1991, ISBN 3-440-05615-5 , Kuckucks-Lichtnelke, p. 242.
  • Ruprecht Düll , Herfried Kutzelnigg : Pocket dictionary of plants in Germany and neighboring countries. The most common Central European species in portrait . 7th, corrected and enlarged edition. Quelle & Meyer, Wiebelsheim 2011, ISBN 978-3-494-01424-1 .
  • Jaakko Jalas, Juha Suominen (ed.): Atlas Florae Europaeae. Distribution of Vascular Plants in Europe. 7. Caryophyllaceae (Silenoideae). Akateeminen Kirjakauppa, The Committee for Mapping the Flora of Europe & Societas Biologica Fennica Vanamo, Helsinki 1986, ISBN 951-9108-06-8 , pp. 14-15.
  • Arthur Oliver Chater: Lychnis L. In: TG Tutin, NA Burges, AO Chater, JR Edmondson, VH Heywood, DM Moore, DH Valentine, SM Walters, DA Webb (Eds.): Flora Europaea . 2nd, revised edition. Volume 1: Psilotaceae to Platanaceae . Cambridge University Press, Cambridge / New York / Melbourne 1993, ISBN 0-521-41007-X , pp. 189–190 (English, limited preview in Google Book Search).

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Oskar Sebald: Guide through nature. Wild plants of Central Europe . ADAC Verlag, Munich 1989, ISBN 3-87003-352-5 , p. 73 .
  2. ↑ Georg Tischler: The chromosome numbers of the vascular plants of Central Europe. Junk, 's-Gravenhage, 1950.
  3. ↑ Erhard Dörr, Wolfgang Lippert : Flora of the Allgäu and its surroundings. Volume 1, IHW, Eching 2001, ISBN 3-930167-50-6 , p. 479.
  4. ^ Erich Oberdorfer : Plant-sociological excursion flora for Germany and neighboring areas . 8th edition. Page 365, Stuttgart, Verlag Eugen Ulmer, 2001. ISBN 3-8001-3131-5
  5. ↑ Carl von Linné: Species Plantarum. Volume 1, 1753, p. 436.
  6. ↑ AOChater Lychnis In: TG Tutin, NA Burges, AO Chater, JR Edmondson, VH Heywood, DM Moore, DH Valentine, SM Walters, DA Webb (eds.): Flora Europaea . 2nd, revised edition. Volume 1: Psilotaceae to Platanaceae . Cambridge University Press, Cambridge / New York / Melbourne 1993, ISBN 0-521-41007-X , pp. 189 (English, limited preview in Google Book Search).
  7. ↑ Karol Marhold, 2011: Caryophyllaceae : Datasheet Silene flos-cuculi In: Euro + Med Plantbase - the information resource for Euro-Mediterranean plant diversity.

Web links

Commons : Kuckucks-Lichtnelke ( Lychnis flos-cuculi )  - album with pictures, videos and audio files