Chess flower

The title of this article is ambiguous. For the coat of arms, see chess flower (heraldry) .

Chess flower
Chess flowers ( Fritillaria meleagris ) in Mecklenburg
Systematics
Monocots Order : Lily-like (Liliales) Family : Lily family (Liliaceae) Subfamily : Lilioideae Genre : Fritillaria Type : Chess flower
Scientific name
Fritillaria meleagris
L.

The fritillary ( Fritillaria meleagris ), also chessboard flower or Kiebitzei called, is a plant from the family of the lily family (Liliaceae). It is used as an ornamental plant and was voted Flower of the Year 1993 .

description

Appearance and leaf

The chess flower grows as a perennial herbaceous plant . This pre-summer green geophyte forms a round onion , 1 to 2 centimeters in diameter , which consists of a few onion scales. In early spring it drives an approximately 15 to 20 centimeter long unbranched and almost round stem . The above-ground parts of the plant are bare.

On the stem there are usually four to six (three to eight) gray-green colored leaves . The simple leaf blade is a maximum of 1 centimeter wide, linear and narrow-rutted.

Flower and fruit

Illustration by Jacob Sturm (1796)

The flowering period extends from April to May. The mostly single flowers, rarely standing in pairs, are nodding and hanging down. The hermaphrodite, threefold flowers are almost odorless and broadly bell-shaped. The six equally diverse, about 4 centimeters long tepals whose blunt tip is bent usually something like a chessboard are purple and white or mottled greenish-white. Even with the completely white form Fritillaria meleagris f. Alba , the eponymous pattern is still faintly recognizable. The six stamens are clearly dominated by the tepals. The 10 to 13 mm long free stamens are white and the anthers are yellow. There are conspicuous nectaries . Three carpels are fused together to form an upper, three- chamber ovary. The stylus has three columns.

The upright, up to 15 mm long, angular, triple capsule fruit contains numerous seeds per fruit compartment.

Chromosome set

The number of chromosomes is 2n = 24. Based on the basic number of chromosomes of the genus Fritillaria of x = 12, diploidy is present.

ecology

Blossom in longitudinal section: white stamens and yellow anthers, green ovaries and three-pronged style can be seen

Ripe triple capsule fruit

The chess flower reproduces through seed formation and vegetatively through brood bulbs. The chess flower is a cold germ . The pollination via insects, and Hymenoptera such as bees and bees play a central role.

Location and plant sociology

The chess flower is a light plant, which means that it grows in full light and can only tolerate shading to a limited extent. Their ecological focus is on wet, partially flooded, air-poor, moderately nitrogen-rich, neutral loam and clay soils. The chess flower occurs particularly in societies of the order Molinietalia , but also in those of the order Arrhenatheretalia .

distribution

The chess flower is a sub-Atlantic-sub-Mediterranean floral element . According to Krausch , its natural distribution area extends from Normandy through central and southern France , the foothills of the Alps , Croatia , Serbia , Hungary and as far as Romania . In Central Europe , the species is unlikely to be native and the occurrence is likely to go back to naturalization and deliberate planting . The chess flower is therefore considered a stinzen plant in Germany .

In England the chess flower has only been recorded in the wild since 1736. A larger deposit, for example, grows in a meadow at Magdalen College , Oxford . Other English deposits are in Ducklington , a Site of Special Scientific Interest , and Cricklade in the Upper Thames Valley .

The largest contiguous occurrence in Germany is in the wet meadows of the two adjacent nature reserves "Sinngrund" near Obersinn and Sinnwiesen from Altengronau on the Sinn , a tributary of the Franconian Saale . The largest population east of the Elbe occurs in the immediate vicinity of the town of Ziesar in Brandenburg . In addition, the chess flower in Germany only occurs on the lower Elbe near Hetlingen (there are around 80,000 specimens on 145 hectares), in the Untere Seeveniederung nature reserve near the mouth of the Elbe tributary Seeve , isolated in the Heuckenlock nature reserve (on the Süderelbe near Moorwerder ), Duvenstedter Brook and Wittenbergen , near Sassenberg in Westphalia (NSG Schachblumenwiesen ) and on the Main (e.g. in Bayreuth ). Deposits on the Weser seem to be recovering due to declining agricultural use. A small occurrence exists near Wiesbaden-Breckenheim (Hesse). Due to the current threat from fertilization, an application was made to the Lower Nature Conservation Authority of Wiesbaden for temporary securing of the area in April 2017 (NSG application 2013).

In Austria , for example, it can be found in Eastern Styria ( Großsteinbach municipality ) and in southern Burgenland ( Hagensdorf ).

and display information about the image

Chess flowers in Sweden

Danger

The chess flower is endangered in Germany and according to the Federal Species Protection Ordinance (BArtSchV) as well as in Austria in the individual federal states as particularly protected. In 1993 she was selected as Flower of the Year . It is mainly threatened by the destruction of its natural habitats in wet meadows, alluvial forests and floodplains of rivers ( river meadows ). The ongoing eutrophication of the soil by fertilizers also has a negative effect on the population. In Austria the chess flower is considered to be critically endangered. It has been fully protected in Switzerland since 2000.

Systematics

Fritillaria meleagris was first described by Carl von Linné in Species Plantarum in 1753 . The specific epithet meleagris means " guinea fowl " and refers to the typical pattern of the flower.

No more Fritillaria meleagris belongs Fritillaria tubiformis var. Burnatii (Planch.) Rouy (Syn .: Fritillaria meleagris subsp. Burnatii (Planchon) Rix ).

Toxicity

Like most Fritillaria species, the chess flower is poisonous to humans. The onion in particular contains a number of poisonous alkaloids , including the steroid alkaloid imperialin, which can lead to circulatory problems, vomiting and cramps - and, in high doses (especially in children), to cardiac arrest. For treatment to be antispasmodics administered.

Use as an ornamental plant

The chess flower, first mentioned in botanical literature in 1572, was introduced to Central Europe as a garden plant in the second half of the 16th century. A still life by the Dutchman Jakob de Gheyn II , which was created between 1600 and 1603, shows checkerboard flowers, Gretchen-im-Grünen , roses, columbines , lilies of the valley , pansies and a Schrenk tulip . In the 17th century it was one of the most popular ornamental plants in baroque gardens. During the 19th century it went out of style.

The chess flower is grown in gardens for planting borders and rock gardens and as a cut flower, albeit less often than in the past. There are varieties with white, dark red, light pink, reddish-purple or brown-purple bloom bracts with differently pronounced checkerboard patterns. It needs moist soil and often does not survive dry summers.

Common names

The other German-language trivial names exist or existed for the chess flower : Fritillariablum, Kiewitsei ( Lower Weser ), Kiwitzei, Kukukstulpe ( Pomeranian ) and Guinea Fowl tulip (Pomeranian).

literature

• Herbert Hollmann: Distribution and sociology of the chess flower Fritillaria meleagris L. (= treatises and negotiations of the Natural Science Association in Hamburg. New series. Supplement. Volume 15). Paul Parey, Hamburg / Berlin 1972.
• Heinz-Dieter Krausch : Kaiserkron and peonies red ... From the discovery and introduction of our garden flowers . Deutscher Taschenbuch-Verlag, Munich 2007, ISBN 978-3-423-34412-8 , pp. 169-171 .
• Loki Schmidt : The flowers of the year. Hoffmann and Campe, Hamburg 2003, ISBN 3-455-09395-7 .
• Ummo Lübben: The chess flower: Fritillaria meleagris L. In: Ökoportrait. Volume 43, 2007, ISSN  0176-4926 , pp. 1–4 ( PDF file; 778 kB ).
• Edward Martin Rix: Fritillaria L. In: TG Tutin, VH Heywood, NA Burges, DM Moore, DH Valentine, SM Walters, DA Webb (eds.): Flora Europaea . Volume 5: Alismataceae to Orchidaceae (Monocotyledones) . Cambridge University Press, Cambridge 1980, ISBN 0-521-20108-X , pp. 31 (English, limited preview in Google Book Search).
• Gabriele Russell: Homage to a little lily. The checkerboard flower is a cultural and historical search for traces . Heimatverein Sassenberg. Harlinghausen-Druck, Lippstadt 2019.

Web links

Commons : Schachblume  - Album with pictures, videos and audio files

• Chess flower . In: BiolFlor, the database of biological-ecological characteristics of the flora of Germany.
• Profile and distribution map for Bavaria . In: Botanical Information Hub of Bavaria .
• Fritillaria meleagris L. In: Info Flora , the national data and information center for Swiss flora .
• Distribution in the northern hemisphere from: Eric Hultén, Magnus Fries: Atlas of North European vascular plants. 1986, ISBN 3-87429-263-0 at Den virtuella floran. (swed.)
• Thomas Meyer: Data sheet with identification key and photos at Flora-de: Flora von Deutschland (old name of the website: Flowers in Swabia )
• The checkerboard flower as a poisonous plant .

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b} chess flower. In: FloraWeb.de.
2. ↑ ^{a b c d e f} Edward Martin Rix: Fritillaria L. In: TG Tutin, VH Heywood, NA Burges, DM Moore, DH Valentine, SM Walters, DA Webb (eds.): Flora Europaea . Volume 5: Alismataceae to Orchidaceae (Monocotyledones) . Cambridge University Press, Cambridge 1980, ISBN 0-521-20108-X , pp. 31 (English, limited preview in Google Book Search).
3. ↑ ^{a b c d} Fritillaria meleagris L. In: Info Flora , the national data and information center for Swiss flora. Accessed on July 26, 2014.
4. ^ Henning Haeupler, Thomas Muer: picture atlas of the fern and flowering plants of Germany . Ed .: Federal Agency for Nature Conservation (=  The fern and flowering plants of Germany . Volume 2 ). Eugen Ulmer, Stuttgart (Hohenheim) 2000, ISBN 3-8001-3364-4 , pp. 693 .
5. ↑ Bryan Ness: Fritillaria. In: Flora of North America Editorial Committee (Ed.): Flora of North America North of Mexico . Volume 26: Magnoliophyta: Liliidae: Liliales and Orchidales . Oxford University Press, New York / Oxford a. a. 2002, ISBN 0-19-515208-5 , pp. 164 (English, online ).
6. ^ Heinz Ellenberg, Heinrich E. Weber, Ruprecht Düll, Volkmar Wirth, Willy Werner, D. Paulißen: Pointer values ​​of plants in Central Europe (= Scripta Geobotanica. Volume 18). 2nd improved and enlarged edition. Erich Goltze, Göttingen 1992, ISBN 3-88452-518-2 , p. 107.
7. ↑ ^{a b} Erich Oberdorfer : Plant-sociological excursion flora for Germany and neighboring areas . With the collaboration of Angelika Schwabe and Theo Müller. 8th, heavily revised and expanded edition. Eugen Ulmer, Stuttgart (Hohenheim) 2001, ISBN 3-8001-3131-5 , pp. 131 .
8. ↑ Werner Hempel : The flora of Saxony from the late ice age to the present. Weißdorn, Jena 2009, ISBN 978-3-936055-57-3 , The early phytes of the 18th and 19th centuries (1750–1870) , pp. 182–196.
9. ↑ Federal Agency for Nature Conservation (Ed.): Red List of Endangered Animals, Plants and Fungi in Germany - Volume 7: Plants Agricultural Publishing House Münster 2018, ISBN 978-3-7843-5612-9 , p. 22.
10. ↑ ^{a b} Andy Byfield: A checkered history. On: guardian.co.uk , April 26, 2013.
11. ↑ Ducklington Fritillaries. on: ducklingtonparishcouncil.gov.uk
12. ↑ Wedel-Schlauer Tageblatt of April 18, 2011.
13. ↑ Save from extinction. In: Uetersener Nachrichten . April 19, 2011:
14. ↑ Protective land - Schachblumenwiesen near Bayreuth. (No longer available online.) In: bund-naturschutz.de. Bund Naturschutz in Bayern , archived from the original on May 4, 2012 ; accessed on April 24, 2012 : "In spring you can only admire the chess flower (Fritillaria meleagris) in two places in Bavaria: in the Sinn Valley in Lower Franconia and in five places in and around Bayreuth." Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and still Not checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.   
15. ↑ Carl von Linné: Species Plantarum. Volume 1, Lars Salvius, Stockholm 1753, p. 304, digitizedhttp: //vorlage_digitalisat.test/1%3Dhttp%3A%2F%2Fwww.biodiversitylibrary.org%2Fopenurl%3Fpid%3Dtitle%3A669%26volume%3D1%26issue%3D%26spage%3D304%26date%3D1753~GB%3D~ IA% 3D ~ MDZ% 3D% 0A ~ SZ% 3D ~ double-sided% 3D ~ LT% 3D ~ PUR% 3D .
16. ↑ Rafaël Govaerts (ed.): Fritillaria meleagris. In: World Checklist of Selected Plant Families (WCSP) - The Board of Trustees of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew . Retrieved February 25, 2014.
17. ↑ Checkerboard flower (Fritillaria meleagris). In: giftpflanze.com. Retrieved July 24, 2014 . 
18. ↑ Florence Hopper Boom: An early Flower Piece by Jacques de Gheyn II. In: Simiolus, Netherlands Quarterly for the History of Art. Volume 8, No. 4, 1975/76, p. 198.
19. ↑ ^{a b c} Eckehart J. Jäger, Friedrich Ebel, Peter Hanelt, Gerd K. Müller (eds.): Excursion flora from Germany . Founded by Werner Rothmaler. tape 5 : Herbaceous ornamental and useful plants . Springer, Spektrum Akademischer Verlag, Berlin / Heidelberg 2008, ISBN 978-3-8274-0918-8 , pp. 686-687 .
20. ^ Georg August Pritzel , Carl Jessen : The German folk names of plants. New contribution to the German linguistic treasure. Philipp Cohen, Hannover 1882, p. 155. ( online ).

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