Lilium grayi
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Lilium grayi - illustration by Joseph Dalton Hooker 1892 |
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| S. Watson |
Lilium grayi is a plant from the genus of lilies ( Lilium ) in the section Pseudolirium (American Section) . In the United States , the species is known as Gray's lily . It is named after Asa Gray , an American botanist .
features
Lilium grayi is a perennial , herbaceous plant . It reaches heights of growth of up to 130 centimeters. It germinates with a delay - hypogeic . In the first two years after germination, Lilium grayi does not yet flower ; during this time the onion is built up. Usually it blooms for the first time in the third year. The DNA of the species is distributed over 2n = 24 chromosomes .
onion
The bulbs are thickenings on unbranched rhizomatic structures that are 2.2 to 2.6 inches high and 3.8 to 5 inches long. The rhizome is at most twice longer than high. As is typical of lilies, the bulbs are composed of numerous, yellowish-white scales that consist of up to two segments. The longest scales are 0.9 to 2.2 inches long. There are unsegmented rhizome strands between the actual onions. The roots are adventitious roots , some of which arise directly from the stem axis .
leaves
Shortly after the sprout has sprout from the onion, the leaves in the bud are criss-crossed tightly together and give the bud a rounded shape. After growing out, the stem axis is upright and smooth. The leaf position is lively or partially lively in three to five whorls of three to twelve leaves each. The leaves are horizontal or slightly bent upwards, they become lobed towards the tip and are therefore bent slightly downwards. The leaf shape is elliptical or narrow-elliptical to lanceolate. The leaves are about 1.5 to 3.6 inches wide and 4.1 to 12.7 inches long, they are a maximum of five times longer than wide.
The leaf margins are not wavy, the blade is sharp at the tip, less sharp at the distal leaves. The main veins run lengthways and parallel to each other ( parallel veining ). Abaxial, i.e. towards the leaf margin, and especially towards the shoot axis, the epidermis above the leaf veins is noticeably rougher. The leaf surface is covered with tiny angular trichome needles .
Flowers and fruits
The plant blooms from the end of June to mid-July with one to nine, in culture also over twenty, nodding, stalked flowers in a large panicle . The flower stalks are between 2.6 and 6.5 inches long. The inflorescence is bell-shaped and does not smell. The flowers are threefold and hermaphrodite, the six bracts ( tepals ) are designed the same. They are only slightly bent, at least the basal two-thirds of the bract length are straight, only then does the bend begin. The color of the flowers changes from yellow-orange proximal (at the base) to dark red distal (at the flower tips), they are densely covered with dark red speckles. The tepals are between 3.1 and 5.6 inches long and 1.2 to 2 inches wide.
Each flower has six stamens . The stamens (filaments) are red. They run almost parallel with the stylus of the three fused carpels and are easily bent between 3 ° and a maximum of 9 ° outwards. The anthers (anthers) are magenta in color and between 4 millimeters and 1.2 centimeters long. The pollen is rusty brown. The pistil is 2.4 to 3.8 centimeters long, the ovary is above. The scar is 0.8 to 1.7 centimeters in size.
After flowering, capsule fruits 2.1 to 3.7 centimeters long and 1.5 to 2.1 centimeters wide form . They are between 1.5 and 2.1 times longer than they are wide.
Distribution, habitats, stocks and protection
distribution
Lilium grayi is endemic to a very small area . Unmixed, i.e. non- hybridized, populations of the species are only found in the Roan Mountain Massif in North Carolina and Tennessee , where the species was discovered in 1840. The natural hybrid Lilium × pseudograyi is also found in small populations at the higher elevations of the Blue Ridge Mountains , including Grandfather Mountain in North Carolina and Mount Rogers and Whitetop Mountain in Virginia .
The stock is falling sharply. In North Carolina there were only 61 stands left in 2000, some of which only consist of five to ten individual plants. There is only one county left in Tennessee with small populations.
Habitats
Lilium grayi needs very moist soil and prefers to grow in swamps or on forest meadows. It needs an acidic soil , preferably on sandstone ground . The preferred natural location is full sun and not shaded.
It occurs in forests that are mainly dominated by the American red spruce ( Picea rubens ) and the Fraser fir ( Abies fraseri ), and can be found at altitudes of 1200 to 1900 meters. The hybrid Lilium × pseudograyi can also be found at altitudes of up to 900 meters.
Stocks
Fungal diseases, similar to anthracnose, pose the greatest threat to stocks . Fungi of the genera Colletotrichum , Botrytis and Alternaria attack the lily. An infestation by Botrytis or Alternaria always seems to be preceded by a Colletotrichum infection.
Another danger is the increased grazing of mountain meadows by cattle and the increase in rabbits and wild boars in the region. As with many other threatened species, the destruction of habitats by humans and the illegal collection of plants are partly responsible for the decline in the population of Lilium grayi .
protection
The species is on the candidate list for the United States Fish and Wildlife Service's Endangered Species list . In the state of Tennessee, the species has been listed as critically endangered since 1986 (S1); in Virginia, stocks have been considered critical since 1991 (S2). In order to be able to preserve the species at least ex situ , it was suggested to collect seeds from all natural stocks and to conserve them.
ecology
Lilium grayi is highly specialized in pollination. Due to its special flower shape, it can only be pollinated by ruby- throated hummingbirds ( Archilochus colubris ). Only a few noble butterflies (Nymphalidae) of the genus Speyeria are still able to absorb the nectar of the flowers, but the plants are not reliably pollinated.
The similarity of the flower morphology to Lilium bolanderi and Lilium maritimum of the American West is remarkable. Since this morphology was acquired independently of one another, this suggests a high selection pressure for pollination by hummingbirds (Trochilidae) for these species.
Hybrids
Lilium grayi is closely related to the Canada lily , with which it sometimes forms hybrids in nature, William Bywater Grove described these hybrids as Lilium × pseudograyi . The habitus also corresponds to a mixture of the two parents, in almost all dimensions it is in the range between the species.
In horticulture, the species has only very rarely been used for breeding purposes. It is a rarity in gardens and almost impossible to find outside of the United States.
Botanical history
Lilium grayi was discovered by Asa Gray in 1840 , but was not first described by Sereno Watson until 1879 , who named it after Gray. It was first cultivated by Harlan Kelsey in 1888 . 1934 found Lilium grayi attention than they the Award of Merit of the British Royal Horticultural Society won.
Systematics
In 1949 Comber put the species in its classic, albeit outdated systematics with Lilium canadense , L. iridollae , L. michiganense , L. michauxii , L. superbum and L. pyrophilum in a subsection. It can hybridize with the Canada lily ( L. canadense ), which can be seen as an indication of a very close relationship. Lilium grayi has not yet been taken into account in molecular genetic studies .
literature
Much of the information in this article has been obtained from the following sources:
- Mark W. Skinner: Lilium grayi . In: Flora of North America . tape 26 . Oxford University Press, Oxford 2003, ISBN 978-0-19-515208-1 , pp. 187 ( online [accessed February 2, 2009]).
- Lilium grayi. Center for Plant Conservation , accessed July 18, 2007 .
Individual evidence
- ^ M. Bates, North Carolina Plant Conservation Program Lillium grayi Annual Report . North Carolina Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services , Raleigh 2000.
- ^ EW Chester, BE Wofford. R. Kral, HR Selm, AM Evans: Atlas of Tennessee vascular plants . Austin Peay State University , Clarksville 1993.
- ^ M. Bates, North Carolina Plant Conservation Program Lillium grayi Annual Report . North Carolina Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services , Raleigh 1997.
- ↑ Lilium grayi. (No longer available online.) Center for Plant Conservation , archived from the original on August 19, 2009 ; Retrieved July 18, 2007 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ RM Adams, WJ Dress: Nodding Lilium species of eastern North America (Liliaceae) . In: Baileya . tape 21 , 1982, pp. 165-188 .
Web links
Wikispecies: Lilium grayi - Species directory