Luffa saccata
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Habit, leaves and flowers (left) as well as ripe fruits (right) of Luffa saccata |
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| Luffa saccata | ||||||||||||
| F. Garbage. ex I. Telford |
Luffa saccata is a plant of the genus Luffa in the family of the Cucurbitaceae (Cucurbitaceae). It occurs in northern Australia.
description
Vegetative characteristics
Luffa saccata grows as a climbing or creeping annual herbaceous plant . The more or less bald and ribbed stem axis reaches a diameter of 0.2 to 0.3 centimeters and is up to 7 meters long. The first-order side branches are 4.5 to 8 inches long, those of the second order are 5 to 9 inches long. The tendrils are three to five parts.
The leaves are divided into a petiole and a leaf blade. The petiole is 1.5 to 6.5 inches long. The simple, three- or five-fold lobed leaf blade is ovate to broadly ovate with a length of 3 to 14 centimeters and a width of 2.5 to 13 centimeters with a heart-shaped blade base and a pointed upper end. The spreading flaps have a rounded or blunt upper end and a notched edge. Both the top and the underside of the leaf blade are hairy with bristles.
Inflorescences and flowers
Luffa saccata's flowering season extends from March to October. The flowers are mostly hermaphroditic, more rarely Luffa saccata is single-sexed ( monoecious ). The male flowers are usually grouped in racemose inflorescences , more rarely individually. The flowers are in 3 to 30 centimeters long inflorescences and contain 10 to 16 stalked flowers and are on a 1.5 to 12 centimeter long inflorescence stem. The flower stalks in these inflorescences are 0.5 to 2 inches long, while they are 0.8 to 6.4 inches long in the solitary flowers. The female flowers stand together individually or in pairs on the leaf axils. The flower stalks of the female flowers are 0.3 to 2 inches long.
The male flowers are five-fold. Your flower cup is bell-shaped with a length of 0.2 to 0.3 millimeters wide. The five sepals are fused and the calyx ends in five calyx lobes with fine hairs on the underside, which are triangular with a length of 0.4 to 1 centimeter. The five yellow petals are fused and the corolla ends in five, more or less bare corolla lobes, which are 1.2 to 2 centimeters long, ovoid to spatulate. The three stamens are at the base of the flower cup. The anthers have one and two two-chambered.
The flower cup of the female flowers is similar to that of the male flowers. The egg-shaped ovary is 0.8 to 1.2 centimeters long and covered with fine hairs. The three stamens of the female flowers are sterile. The approximately 0.2 centimeter long stylus ends in three bilobed scars.
Fruit and seeds
The fruit stalks are 0.2 to 2 inches long. The hairless and prickly fruit is egg-shaped with a length of 2.5 to 4.5 centimeters and a diameter of 2 to 4 centimeters. Ripe fruits can be found from March to October. Each of the fruits contains numerous seeds.
The seeds are elliptical with a length of 0.7 to 0.8 centimeters and a width of 0.4 to 0.5 centimeters and have narrow wings. The surface of the dark brown and black spotted seeds is smooth or slightly wrinkled.
Occurrence
The natural range of Luffa saccata is in northern Australia. It stretches from the Kimberley in Western Australia to the region around the McArthur River in the Northern Territory .
Luffa saccata thrives at altitudes of up to 300 meters. Luffa saccata usually grows in areas near rivers and banks on sandy or loamy soils, occasionally also on rocky slopes on limestone or sandstone . In these locations the species grows together with Adansonia gregorii , Barringtonia acutangula , the red eucalyptus ( Eucalyptus camaldulensis ), Eucalyptus miniata and Melaleuca leucadendra as well as various types of brachychiton , prickly grass ( Cenchrus ) and prickly grass ( Triodia ).
Taxonomy
It was first described as Luffa saccata in 2011 by Ian Telford in PhytoKeys on the basis of some specimens collected by Ferdinand von Mueller in the 19th century. Mueller already referred to the plants he collected as Luffa saccata but did not publish a valid first description. Charles Victor Naudin described Luffa saccata as a synonym for Luffa graveolens in 1859 . Telford carried out morphological studies that justify the species status of Luffa saccata . A synonym for Luffa saccata F.Muell. ex I.Telford is Luffa saccata F.Muell. ex Naudin .
The specific epithet saccata is derived from the Latin saccatus , which means bag-like and refers to the bag-like fruits.
swell
- Ian RH Telford, Hanno Schaefer, Werner Greuter , Susanne S. Renner : A new Australian species of Luffa (Cucurbitaceae) and typification of two Australian Cucumis names, all based on specimens collected by Ferdinand Mueller in 1856 . In: PhytoKeys . No. 5 , 2011, ISSN 1314-2003 , p. 21-29 , doi : 10.3897 / phytokeys.5.1395 .
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c d e f g h i j k Ian RH Telford, Hanno Schaefer, Werner Greuter, Susanne S. Renner: A new Australian species of Luffa (Cucurbitaceae) and typification of two Australian Cucumis names, all based on specimens collected by Ferdinand Mueller in 1856 . In: PhytoKeys . No. 5 , 2011, ISSN 1314-2003 , p. 21-29 , doi : 10.3897 / phytokeys.5.1395 .
