Red swamp cleft pen

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Red swamp cleft pen
Hesperantha coccinea variety used as an ornamental plant

Hesperantha coccinea variety used as an ornamental plant

Systematics
Order : Asparagales (Asparagales)
Family : Iris family (Iridaceae)
Subfamily : Crocoideae
Genre : Hesperantha
Section : Concentrica
Type : Red swamp cleft pen
Scientific name
Hesperantha coccinea
( Backh. & Harv. ) Goldblatt & JCManning
Section of an inflorescence of a Hesperantha coccinea variety. The three stamens and the three long stylus branches are clearly visible.
Inflorescence of a variety of Hesperantha coccinea .

The Red Swamp gap stylus ( Hesperantha coccinea ), also Sumpfgladiole , Wassergladiole , Cape lily , gap stylus or sump gap stylus called, is a plant from the genus Hesperantha within the family of the Iridaceae (Iridaceae). The generic name Hesperantha is derived from the ancient Greek words ἑσπέρα hespera for "evening" and ἄνθος ánthos for "blossom" or "flower", so "evening blossom" because the flowers of many Hesperantha species open in the evening (does not apply to this species to); the specific epithet coccinea means scarlet red.

description

The red marsh crevice grows as a deciduous, perennial, herbaceous plant . As the only Hesperantha species, this geophyte does not form tubers , but rather a rhizome as a perennial organ, it is a swamp plant . Remarkably, plants of some populations form small nodules in the axils of the upper leaves in the asymmetrical shape typical of Hesperantha . It is one of the large species within the genus and reaches heights of about 60 cm.

The leaves grow according to the rainy season of the home area in summer. The basal, upright to spreading leaves are simple, flat, parallel-veined, about 40 cm long and about 1 cm wide. The leaf margin is smooth.

The terminal, spiked inflorescences are slender. There are bracts available. The structure of the flowers is similar to other Hesperantha species, only the color of the bracts is different . The flowers are hermaphroditic, threefold and usually radial symmetry to weakly zygomorphic . There are two circles with three usually 30 to 35 mm long bloom cladding provided, which are almost the same shape in both circuits. The bracts are fused into a long tube. The free area of ​​the bracts is spread out in a star shape. The bracts are white to cream to yellow and from red to pink and purple to blue, sometimes with darker markings. There is only one circle with three fertile stamens . Three carpels have become an under constant ovary grown. The style divides above the bloom tube into three long branches. This Hesperantha species is not night flowering and its flowers are not fragrant. In the southern hemisphere it flowers mainly from March to April, sometimes with a few inflorescences in February.

The triple capsule fruits contain many seeds. The seeds, which are atypical for Hesperantha species, are 2 × 1.2 mm in size and prismatic, but the edges are poorly formed. The loose seed coat is translucent light brown with a smooth outline. In the seed coat there is a more or less spherical core with a diameter of about 1 mm. The seed floats through the shape for a while until it reaches the surface of the water. It is adapted to water expansion.

There are two color forms: the widespread red form, whose distribution area extends from the Amatola Mountains in the South African province of Eastern Cape to Zimbabwe , and a pink form, which occurs only in the northern Drakensberg and Witwatersrand in Gauteng Province . Atypical for Hesperantha species, the red form is pollinated by some large butterfly species of the families Papilionidae ( Papilio spec.) And Nymphalidae ( Aeropetes tulbaghia ).

Occurrence

The red marsh fissure pen is only native to sub-Saharan Africa. Their distribution area extends from tropical Africa to the summer rain areas of the eastern Capensis .

Due to abundant seed production and good germination results, they tend to grow wild and are classified as invasive in some areas . The plants thrive in permanently wet or at least moist habitats such as river banks and swamps. This species does not develop tubers because this xeromorphic property is not needed in the humid conditions. Instead, it forms rhizomes.

Systematics

Hesperantha coccinea belongs to the richest section Concentrica the genus Hesperantha in the tribe Croceae (Syn .: Ixieae) in the subfamily of Crocoideae the family of the Iridaceae (Iridaceae). This species was first published in 1864 under the name Schizostylis coccinea by James Backhouse & William Henry Harvey in Curtis' Botanical Magazine . 90, pl. 5422; this name is now only a synonym . Schizostylis Backh. & Harv. was a monotypical genus ( Schizostylis means split pen). In Reduction of Schizostylis (Iridaceae: Ixioideae) in Hesperantha. in Novon , Volume 6, No. 3, 1996, Peter Goldblatt & John C. Manning placed Schizostylis coccinea as Hesperantha coccinea (Backh. & Harv) Goldblatt & JC Manning in the genus Hesperantha ; a genus Schizostylis could not be maintained.

use

Some varieties of the red marsh fissure pen are used as ornamental plants in gardens, mostly planted on ponds (up to 10 cm water depth) and used as cut flowers. The flowers are white to pink to red. In Central Europe it is not hardy, it is overwintered as a container plant in cool rooms or well covered with leaves.

photos

Flowers of some Hesperantha coccinea varieties:

  • 'Viscountess Byng'

  • 'Alba'

  • 'Sunrise'

  • 'Professor Barnard'

  • 'Maidens Blush'

  • 'Fenland Daybreak'

swell

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Hesperantha coccinea in the Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN), USDA , ARS , National Genetic Resources Program. National Germplasm Resources Laboratory, Beltsville, Maryland.

Web links

Commons : Red Marsh Fissure Pen ( Hesperantha coccinea )  - Collection of images, videos and audio files