Small bird's foot

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Small bird's foot
Small bird's foot (Ornithopus perpusillus)

Small bird's foot ( Ornithopus perpusillus )

Systematics
Order : Fabales (Fabales)
Family : Legumes (Fabaceae)
Subfamily : Butterflies (Faboideae)
Tribe : Loteae
Genre : Ornithopus
Type : Small bird's foot
Scientific name
Ornithopus perpusillus
L.

The little bird's foot ( Ornithopus perpusillus ), also known as the mouse pea , belongs to the legume family (Fabaceae). Its legumes, which are reminiscent of bird's feet, are characteristic and give it its German name.

description

The small bird's foot grows lying down to ascending and is only branched at the bottom. The annual or perennial plant therefore often forms small "balls". The leaves have 5 to 15 pairs of leaflets. Each egg-shaped leaflet is about 2 to 5 mm long. The 3 to 4 mm small, whitish flowers have a yellowish boat and a red-striped flag that is about as long as the pinnate bract . The corolla tube is at most twice as long as the conspicuous calyx teeth. The legumes, bent with age, are articulated and network-nerved. The fruit cluster appears like a bird's foot.

The number of chromosomes is 2n = 14.

Detail of the flower

ecology

The small bird's foot is an annual (summer and winter annual) plant with a prostrate stem as an adaptation to its easily mobile, sandy location. Like most legumes, it has root nodules with bacteria that bind nitrogen in the air. The flowers are small "butterfly flowers". Mostly self-pollination takes place. The flowering period is from May to June. The fruits are bent pods or broken pods that disintegrate into 4-7 single-seeded partial fruits when ripe.

Occurrence

Ornithopus perpusillus mainly inhabits barren sandy and silicate dry and semi-arid grasslands. It is also found in relatively nutrient-poor, short-lived weed meadows. Although it also inhabits fallow land, sandy fields, roadsides and pine forest edges, it occurs mainly on (inland) dunes. It is considered a species of the plant sociological association Thero-Airion and has its main occurrence in the Digitario-Setarienion and Arnoseridenion. In Germany it is only rarely to be found scattered. Its distribution area is limited to the temperate and meridional areas of Europe.

literature

  • Eckehart J. Jäger, Klaus Werner (Ed.): Excursion flora from Germany . Founded by Werner Rothmaler. 10th edited edition. tape 4 : Vascular Plants: Critical Volume . Elsevier, Spektrum Akademischer Verlag, Munich / Heidelberg 2005, ISBN 3-8274-1496-2 .
  • 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 .

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Erich Oberdorfer : Plant-sociological excursion flora for Germany and neighboring areas . 8th edition. Verlag Eugen Ulmer, Stuttgart 2001, ISBN 3-8001-3131-5 . Page 605.

Web links

Commons : Ornithopus perpusillus  - album with pictures, videos and audio files