Gleditschien
| Gleditschien | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
||||||||||||
| Systematics | ||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||
| Scientific name | ||||||||||||
| Gleditsia | ||||||||||||
| L. |
The Gleditschien ( Gleditsia ), also called leather pod trees , are a genus of plants in the subfamily of the Caesalpinioideae within the legume family (Fabaceae). The 12 to 14 species are distributed in the temperate and subtropical regions of North and South America as well as in parts of temperate and subtropical Asia and in tropical Africa .
description
Vegetative characteristics
Gleditsia species grow as deciduous trees , which are characterized by their expansive shape. They are thus similar to the Robinia , with which they are however not closely related. Most Gleditschien species have strong simple or branched thorns on the trunk and branches.
The leaves of Gleditschien are single-pinnate on short shoots, but double-pinnate on long shoots; they stand opposite . The stipules are small.
Generative characteristics
The flowers are in racemose , zymous or bundled inflorescences together with bracts . The inconspicuous flowers are hermaphroditic or unisexual and three to five-fold. The three to five sepals are fused. The three to five (rather unusual for butterflies :), almost identically shaped, small petals are greenish or whitish. The six to ten stamens are free. In male flowers, a carpel is rudimentary or absent. Each flower only fertiles is carpel present, the many up only two ovules contains. The stylus is short.
Much more striking than the flowers are the large, flat, hanging legumes , which gave rise to the name "leather sleeve tree". They contain a sweet, edible pulp and up to more than 25 hard-skinned seeds.
Systematics
The generic name Gleditsia honors the German botanist Johann Gottlieb Gleditsch . Synonyms for Gleditsia L. are: Gamwellia Baker , Garugandra Griseb. , Gleditschia Scop.
The genus Gleditsia belongs to the tribe Caesalpinieae in the subfamily Caesalpinioideae within the Fabaceae family .
The genus Gleditsia contains 12 to 14 species (selection):
- Gleditsia aquatica Marshall
- Gleditsia australis Hemsl. : It occurs in Vietnam and in the Chinese provinces of Guangdong and Guangxi .
- Caspian Gleditschia ( Gleditsia caspica Desf. )
- Gleditsia fera (Lour.) Merr. (Syn .: Gleditsia rolfei Vidal ): It occurs in Vietnam, Laos , Taiwan and the Chinese provinces of Fujian , Guangdong, Guangxi, Hunan and Jiangxi and maybe also in Guizhou, Hainan or Yunnan.
- Japanese Gleditschia ( Gleditsia japonica Miq. )
- Gleditsia microphylla Gordon ex YTLee : It occurs in the Chinese provinces of Anhui , Hebei , Henan , Jiangsu , Shaanxi , Shandong as well as Shanxi and maybe also Guizhou.
- Chinese Gleditschia ( Gleditsia sinensis Lam. , Syn .: Gleditsia macracantha Desf. )
- American Gleditschia ( Gleditsia triacanthos L. )
There are hybrids (selection):
- Gleditsia × texana coffin. = Gleditsia triacanthos × Gleditsia aquatica
No longer belongs to the genus:
- Gleditsia africana Welw. ex Benth. ⇒ Erythrophleum africanum (Welw. Ex Benth.) Harms
literature
- SI Ali: Caesalpiniaceae in the Flora of Pakistan : Gleditsia - Online.
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c Dezhao Chen, Dianxiang Zhang, Kai Larsen: Gleditsia Linnaeus. , Pp. 36–38 - online with the same text as the printed work , In: Wu Zheng-yi, Peter H. Raven, Deyuan Hong (ed.): Flora of China. Volume 10: Fabaceae. Science Press and Missouri Botanical Garden Press, Beijing and St. Louis 2010, ISBN 978-1-930723-91-7 .
