Swiss pasture

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Swiss pasture
Swiss willow (Salix helvetica)

Swiss willow ( Salix helvetica )

Systematics
Rosids
Eurosiden I
Order : Malpighiales (Malpighiales)
Family : Willow family (Salicaceae)
Genre : Willows ( Salix )
Type : Swiss pasture
Scientific name
Salix helvetica
Vill.

The Swiss willow ( Salix helvetica ) is a species in the genus of willow ( Salix ) within the family of the pasture plants (Salicaceae). It grows as a small shrub and is considered one of the most common willow species in the Swiss Central Alps. However, their occurrence is not limited to Switzerland.

description

Habitus

The Swiss willow is an upright, small shrub . Silky hair makes the actually lush green plant appear gray-green. With a stature height of about (50) mostly 100 to 150 centimeters and a width between 120 and 140 centimeters, the Swiss willow has a rounded appearance. It has short branches. Its upward arching branches lie on the ground at the base of the plant. The bark of last year's shoot is woolly-tomentose. The two to four year old branches have a reddish brown to brown to gray bark which is covered with shaggy hair. Later the branches bald and are slightly shiny light brown.

leaves

Leaf view Salix helvetica

The leaves of the Swiss willow are heaped up in the branch tips. They have a 6 to 8 millimeter long leaf stalk . The length of the broadly lanceolate leaf blade varies between 3 and 8 centimeters, its width corresponds to 1 / 3–1 / 2 of the leaf length. Scattered hairs appear on the lush, grass-green upper side of the leaf. Most of the time, the side nerves are weakly sunk. The underside of the leaf is covered with frizzy, white-felt hair and appears matt-whitish-gray. With the exception of individual glandular teeth, the leaf margin is designed with entire margins. It often rolls down slightly. Stipules are rarely present. The autumn color is only weak.

Buds

The protruding, brown buds are arched on both sides. They are about 5 to 7 millimeters long and 3 to 3.5 millimeters wide and thick. The relation of thickness to length corresponds roughly to the ratio 1: 1.5 to 1: 2.5. The bud shape varies from spherical to ovoid to ellipsoidal. The front bud area is rounded. The buds are covered with woolly hair, and in the course of development they become bald.

This information relates to the winter and autumn condition of the largest buds of last year's shoot, usually flower buds.

Inflorescences and flowers

Between June and July, the unisexual flowers of the dioecious Swiss willow appear together with the leaf shoots . They are grouped together in densely blooming, whitish-silvery short-stalked catkins . The female kitten inflorescences reach 3 to 5 centimeters in length at the flowering time, during the fruiting period they stretch to 8 centimeters. The two-colored wrapper of the female flower has a yellow-greenish to yellow color at the base and a striking black color in the front area. The sedentary or only slightly stalked ovary is staffed with permanent felt-like-silk hair. There is a nectar gland at its base . It turns into a long stylus with a deep two-part scar .

The male catfish inflorescences appear just before the leaves shoot. Their length is at least twice the width. The also two-tone bracts of the male flowers are yellow-green at the base and conspicuously black in the front area. The male single flower contains two stamens , at the base of which there is a nectar gland. The stamens with yellow anthers are not grown together. At most, they form individual hairs at their base, otherwise they are hairless.

fruit

The Swiss willow forms a multi-seeded, grayish-frizzy hairy and almost sedentary capsule fruit . It is designed cone-shaped.

Chromosome number

The number of chromosomes is 2n = 36, 38 or 39.

Occurrence

distribution

Natural occurrences have become known in Central Europe from Austria, the Czech Republic, Poland and Switzerland. In south-eastern Europe Italy and in south-western Europe France are among the traditional growing varieties. In Austria, stocks from the Hohe Tauern , the Zillertal Alps , the Schwarzenstein , Styria and Carinthia are particularly documented. It is one of the most common types of willow in the Swiss Central Alps . In Germany, the Swiss willow is one of the locally naturalized neophytes . She was naturalized on the Brocken in the Harz Mountains .

Location

As an alpine-subalpine species, the Swiss willow is usually found at altitudes of 1700 to 2500 meters. There it prefers shady northern locations and shady, long slopes covered by snow. Also glacial moraine among their happy populated growing places. It thrives on moist, lime-free block, avalanche and stream debris.

Plant sociology

The Swiss willow is a characteristic of the Swiss willow bush ( Salicetum helveticae BR.-BL. et al. 1954). In relation to the vegetation of the area around the Rifflsee , this multi-layered, knee to waist-high shrub community populates small areas of coarse block heaps in hollows of snow-rich areas. In addition to the Swiss willow, black willow ( Salix foetida ) and silk willow ( Salix glaucosericea ) are the diagnostic species.

Systematics

The Swiss willow ( Salix helvetica Vill. ) Was first validly described by Dominique Villars in 1789. Salix velutina Schleich exist as taxonomic synonyms . and Salix lapponum subsp. helvetica (Vill.) Nyman .

use

The Swiss willow is of biological engineering importance in the area of renaturation of flowing systems, in particular in the renewal of sagging and eroded river banks. In the context of the branch packing process, in which alternating layers of compacted embankment material and living branches are used to reinforce the bank, the Swiss willow is suitable as the lower branch layer. Their roots, which reach into the water, form an upstream bank area where sediments can accumulate. This creates an additional bank protection zone.

The Swiss willow is a popular plant in the rock garden. Due to its small size, it is suitable as a decorative aspect in smaller gardens.

swell

Individual evidence

  1. ^ A b c Stefan Eggenberg, Adrian Moehl: Flora Vegetativa p. 461ff.
  2. ↑ a b Stinglwagner, Haseder, Erlbeck: Das Kosmos Wald- und Forstlexikon p. 948.
  3. ↑ a b c d e f Hörandl: Determination of buds in willows in winter (PDF; 2.7 MB)
  4. ↑ a b c d e f g h i Wolfgang Adler, Karl Oswald, Raimund Fischer: Exkursionsflora von Österreich , Ulmer Verlag p. 625ff.
  5. ↑ a b c d e Heinz Staffelbach: Handbook Swiss Alps p. 265ff.
  6. ^ Salix helvetica at Tropicos.org. In: IPCN Chromosome Reports . Missouri Botanical Garden, St. Louis
  7. ↑ Occurrence in Austria (PDF; 166 kB)
  8. ^ Ernst Lautenschlager: The pastures of Switzerland and neighboring areas. Identification key and species descriptions for the genus Salix L. Basel / Boston / Berlin 1989.
  9. ↑ Occurrence in Germany  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.@1@ 2Template: Toter Link / www.rz.uni-karlsruhe.de  
  10. ↑ Plant sociology of the Swiss pasture (PDF; 1.2 MB)
  11. ^ Document description by Villars
  12. ↑ Tela Botanica (fr)
  13. ^ João Rocha and Elsa Alves : Urban River Basin Enhancement Methods. New techniques for urban river rehabilitation. How to re-naturalize flow regimes. Recommendations 2004 (PDF; 1.7 MB)
  14. ↑ Salix helvetica VILLARS 1789 - Schweizer Weide (PDF) July 2014. Archived from the original on July 29, 2014. Retrieved on February 17, 2017.

Web links

Commons : Schweizer Willow ( Salix helvetica )  - album with pictures, videos and audio files
Wiktionary: Willow  - explanations of meanings, word origins, synonyms, translations