Tea apple
| Tea apple | ||||||||||||
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Tea apple ( Malus hupehensis ) |
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| Scientific name | ||||||||||||
| Malus hupehensis | ||||||||||||
| ( Pamp. ) Rehder |
The tea-apple ( Malus hupehensis ) is a plant from the genus of the apples ( Malus ) in the family of the rose family (Rosaceae). It is native to China , Taiwan, and Assam .
description
Appearance and leaf
The tea apple grows as a tree that reaches heights of about 8 meters. The treetop is wide; the lower branches are long and grow horizontally; the upper branches are ascending. The bark of the stem-round branches is initially dark green and hairy, later purple or purple-brown and glabrous. The bark is dull orange-brown and has thick vertical plates. The dark purple-colored, egg-shaped buds have scales that are sparsely ciliate at the edge.
The alternate leaves are arranged in a petiole and a leaf blade. The 1 to 3 cm long leaf stalk is initially sparsely hairy and soon becomes bald. The simple leaf blade is ovate or ovoid-elliptical with a length of 5 to 10 centimeters and a width of 2.5 to 4 centimeters with a mostly wedge-shaped or rarely rounded blade base and a pointed upper end. The leaf margin is serrated to a point. The leaf surfaces are sparsely hairy at first and soon become bald. The early falling stipules are 5 to 6 mm long and linear-lanceolate with a pointed upper end, herbaceous to membranous, sparsely downy hairy with a sparsely glandular-toothed margin.
Inflorescence and flower
The flowering period in China extends from April to May. The umbrella-like inflorescence has a diameter of 4 to 6 cm and contains four to six flowers. The early falling bracts are membranous, lanceolate sharpened upper end and initially sparsely glandular-toothed edges. The 3 to 6 cm long peduncle is initially sparsely shaggy hairy and soon becomes bald.
The hermaphrodite flowers are five-fold and radial symmetry with a double flower envelope . The bell-shaped flower cup (hypanthium) is hairy on the outside or sparsely shaggy. The five sepals , bald on the outside and downy hairy on the inside, are 4 to 5 mm long and at most as long as the flower cup and are triangular-egg-shaped with a smooth edge and a pointed or pointed upper end. In a budding flower, the petals are pink, in a bloomed pure white. The corolla has a diameter of 3.5 to 4 cm. The five slightly overlapping, short nailed petals are obovate with a length of about 1.5 cm with a rounded upper end. The 20 unequal stamens are about half as long as the petals. The lower ovary is three- or four-chambered. There are two ovules per ovary chamber . The usually three, rarely four styles are slightly longer than the stamens and hairy at their base. In China, the fruits ripen between August and September.
fruit
The bare fruit stalk is 3 to 6 cm long. The apple fruit is ellipsoidal or almost spherical with a diameter of about 1 centimeter. The yellowish-green and red tinted when ripe. Fruit has a sour taste. The early falling sepals leave a small leaf scar at the top of the fruit.
Chromosomes
The number of chromosomes is 2n = 51, 68.
distribution
The tea apple is widespread in China and is also native to central Taiwan and Assam . It grows on slopes and in the thicket of valleys. It thrives in the mountains at altitudes between 1000 and 2000 meters, at altitudes between 0 and 2900 meters. It is rarely planted in Central Europe .
Systematics
This species was in 1910 under the name (Basionym) Pyrus hupehensis by Renato Pampanini in Nuovo Giornale Botanico Italiano , ns, 17 (2), pp 291 first published . Alfred Rehder presented it in 1933 under the name Malus hupehensis in Journal of the Arnold Arboretum , Volume 14, No. 3, p. 207 in the genus Malus . Other synonyms for Malus hupehensis (Pamp.) Rehder are Malus theifera Rehder , Malus domestica var. Hupehensis (Pamp.) Likhonos , Malus hupehensis fo. rosea (Rehder) Rehder , Malus theifera fo. rosea Rehder . The basionym of this species must not be confused with the synonym Pyrus hupehensis (CKSchneider) Bean 1933 for Sorbus hupehensis C.K. Schneider var. Hupehensis .
Malus hupehensis belongs to the Gymnomeles section in the genus Malus .
use
The fruits are eaten raw or cooked. The leaves are used as a substitute for black / green tea. This tea is tasty and quenches thirst. It is mainly used in China and the leaves from Jinsha (formerly called Shasi) are exported for this.
In a suitable climate, Malus hupehensis is used as an ornamental wood because of its beautiful flowers and fruits .
In Hubei and Sichuan , Malus hupehensis is used as a base for cultivated apple varieties.
swell
- Gu Cuizhi & Stephen A. Spongberg: Malus : Malus hupehensis , p. 179 , In: Wu Zheng-yi, Peter H. Raven & Deyuan Hong (editors): Flora of China , Volume 9 - Pittosporaceae through Connaraceae , Science Press and Missouri Botanical Garden Press, Beijing and St. Louis, May 1, 2003. ISBN 1-930723-14-8 (Description, Distribution and Usage Section)
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c Malus hupehensis in the Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN), USDA , ARS , National Genetic Resources Program. National Germplasm Resources Laboratory, Beltsville, Maryland.
- ↑ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Gu Cuizhi & Stephen A. Spongberg: Malus : Malus hupehensis , p. 179 , In: Wu Zheng-yi, Peter H. Raven & Deyuan Hong (editors): Flora of China , Volume 9 - Pittosporaceae through Connaraceae , Science Press and Missouri Botanical Garden Press, Beijing and St. Louis, May 1, 2003. ISBN 1-930723-14-8
- ↑ a b Entry in Plants for a Future .
- ↑ a b Rehder 1933 scanned at biodiversitylibrary.org .
- ↑ Malus hupehensis at Tropicos.org. Missouri Botanical Garden, St. Louis
Web links
- Malus hupehensis inthe IUCN 2013 Red List of Threatened Species . Listed by: World Conservation Monitoring Center, 1998. Retrieved September 19, 2013.