Silver firebrand
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Celosia argentea ( Celosia argentea var. Cristata subvars.) |
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The silver brandschopf ( Celosia argentea ), also called cockscomb , is a type of plant from the genus Brandschopf ( Celosia ) in the foxtail family (Amaranthaceae), which has spread worldwide in the tropics. The silver burnt head is cultivated especially in Asia and is used as an ornamental plant , food and in herbalism. Other common German names are Floramoor, Sammetblume, Federbusch and Tausendschön.
Taxonomy
Under the name Celosia argentea several plant forms are grouped together, which differ greatly in terms of the number of their chromosomes. The basic number of chromosomes that can be distinguished from one another is nine in the silver fire. However, plants of this type can have four, eight or twelve times the number of this number of chromosomes. Biologists call this tetraploidy, octoploidy and dodecaploidy (see polyploidy ), and denote such forms with 4 n = 36, 8 n = 72 and 12 n = 108.
The following taxa can be crossed with one another without any problems and, according to recent genetic studies, represent a polyploid complex (and must therefore be referred to as one species ):
- The globally occurring octoploid (8 n ) Celosia argentea var. Argentea ,
- the 4 n Celosia argentea var. argentea , which only grows in India ,
- 4 n cultivars Celosia argentea var. cristata and var. plumosa ,
- the cultivated form Celosia argentea 'Caracas',
- the C. whitei called 12 n cross between 8 n Celosia argentea var. argentea and 4 n Celosia argentea var. argentea , and
- the 12 n cross between 8 n Celosia argentea var. argentea and 4 n Celosia argentea var. cristata called Celosia whitei .
While the variants cristata , plumosa , the octoploid form of Celosia argentea var. Argentea , and Celosia whitei have the same amount of DNA in seeds, the tetraploid form of Celosia argentea var. Argentea differs from these variants both in appearance and genetically.
description
See the generic description of Brandschopf ( Celosia ) . In particular, the flowers of the silver burnt head have a pistil three to four millimeters long. The plant is fast-growing, upright, with few branches until flowering. The color and shape of the inflorescence changes significantly within the varieties:
- white to light pink egg-shaped to cylindrical spikes that produce many seeds and turn pink at the tip with age ( Celosia argentea var. argentea ); The Indian 4 n form differs from the 8 n form in that it branches off at the base and has broader, sharply pointed leaves;
- tufts, combs and feathers in white, yellow, orange, red or purple ( Celosia argentea var. cristata , Celosia argentea 'Caracas', Celosia argentea var. plumosa ) branched out by genetically caused association . This association is a genetically recessive trait that disappears again in the first or second daughter generation;
- Intermediate forms between the former are called Celosia whitei .
Silver burners can fall victim to phytoplasmic infections .
The plant is one of the first foxtail species in which the symbiosis with arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi could be demonstrated. This means that only the representatives of the cruciferous family are completely independent of mycorrhiza .
Occurrence
The octoploid form of the variant argentea is that which can be found in the tropics and subtropics worldwide . The tetraploid form occurs only in central and southern India .
Only cultural mentions of the varieties cristata and plumosa have come down to us from India, Burma and China , where they have been planted in the vicinity of religious sites and in gardens for a long time. They do not seem to occur in nature because the plants produce few seeds due to their mutated flowers. The origin of these cultivated forms is unclear despite several studies. Celosia argentea 'Caracas' is also available under the name Celosia 'Venezuela' in German hardware stores or garden centers .
Ingredients and pharmacology
See the ingredients of the fire pots for exact numbers for water, vitamin C , carotenoids , protein , nitrate and oxalate . In addition, triterpene saponins could be detected in the roots and seeds of the silver burnt head . Sugar was found in the roots and flavonoids in leaves and stems. The seeds showed a diuretic effect. Yellow inflorescences of cristata and plumosa can contain high doses of dopamine . The colors of these cultivated forms are mainly determined by their betalain content . Celosian, a polysaccharide from the seeds of the silver burnt, shows liver-protecting and immune-stimulating effects in animal models, as does the aqueous extract from seeds, which also has an antimetastatic effect in the liver of mice. The alcoholic extract of the seeds produces an anti-diabetic effect in certain laboratory rats.
use
Similar to amaranth , the silver burnt head is used as a vegetable. It is the most widely used leafy vegetable in southern Nigeria , and it is also on the menu in Benin , Congo and Indonesia . It is grown in gardens and small farms for personal use and commercially. Young stems and flowers are also eaten. The seeds can also be eaten; they are pseudograins . Due to the resistance to pests and diseases and the higher crop yield, the plant appears to be a good alternative to amaranth. A vegetable oil can also be obtained from the seeds .
In a study it was shown that the silver burnt chop drives weeds out of fields. In particular, the grass plantations such as grain or sorghum infesting root parasites of the African witch herbs (genus Striga ) (family of figwort plants ) could be kept away from fields by sowing them together with silver burnt. The yield has increased considerably. The mechanism seems to be a connection created by the plant and effective within a radius of several meters, which, like cotton , causes premature and suicidal seed formation in Striga . This effect was discovered after questioning Ugandan farmers, who traditionally refer to the fire as striga hunters.
The variety of shapes and colors of flowers and leaves make the cultivars of the silver burnt plant an ornamental plant that is popular around the world. Until 1996 mainly varieties of Celosia argentea var. Plumosa were sold as ornamental plants in Europe . In the meantime, however, Celosia argentea var. Cristata and especially Celosia argentea 'Caracas' have been added.
swell
- ^ Georg August Pritzel , Carl Jessen : The German folk names of plants. New contribution to the German linguistic treasure. Philipp Cohen, Hannover 1882, page 86. ( online ).
- ↑ a b c d P. Nath et al .: Seed protein electrophoresis of wild and cultivated species of Celosia (Amaranthaceae). Genetic Resources and Crop Evolution 44 (3), 1997, pp. 241-5. doi: 10.1023 / A: 1008670407477
- ^ Flora of North America project: Flora of North America. Vol. 4. Amaranthaceae. P. 406/7. Online version
- ^ Flora of China Project: Flora of China. Vol. 5. Amaranthaceae. P. 416. Online version
- ^ E. Tanne, L. Kuznetsova, J. Cohen, S. Alexandrova, A. Gera: Phytoplasmas as Causal Agents of Celosia Disease in Israel . In: HortScience . tape 35 , no. 6 , October 2000, p. 1103-1106 ( abstract + full text ).
- ↑ L. Arriola et al .: Border Cells and Arbuscular Mycorrhizae in four Amaranthaceae Species. In: Phytopathology. 87 (12), 1997, pp. 1240–1242, online version ( Memento of the original dated September 29, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ^ WF Grant: A Cytological Study of Celosia argentea, C. argentea var. Cristata, and Their Hybrids. In: Botanical Gazette . 115 (4), 1954, pp. 323-336.
- ↑ Mamta B. Shah, KN Patel, Malati G. Chauhan: Contribution to Indigenous Drugs Part I: Celosia Argentea . In: Pharmaceutical Biology . tape 31 , no. 3 , 1993, p. 223-234 , doi : 10.3109 / 13880209309082946 .
- ^ W. Schliemann et al .: Betalains of Celosia argentea. In: Phytochemistry . 58 (1), 2001, pp. 159-65, PMID 11524126 .
- ↑ K. Hase et al .: Immunostimulating activity of Celosian, an antihepatotoxic polysaccharide isolated from Celosia argentea. In: Planta Med . 63/3/1997. P.216-9. PMID 9225602 .
- ^ Y. Hayakawa et al .: Anti-metastatic and immunomodulating properties of the water extract from Celosia argentea seeds. In: Biol Pharm Bull. 21 (11), 1998, pp. 1154-9, PMID 9853404 .
- ↑ T. Vetrichelvan et al .: Anti-diabetic activity of alcoholic extract of Celosia argentea Linn. seeds in rats. In: Biol Pharm Bull . 25 (2), 2002, pp. 526-8, PMID 11995938 .
- ↑ MC Palada and SMA Crossman: Evaluation of Tropical Leaf Vegetables in the Virgin Islands. in: J. Janick (Ed.): Perspectives on new crops and new uses. ASHS Press, 1999. ISBN 0-9615027-0-3 online version (PDF; 26 kB)
- ^ Colin W. Wrigley, Harold Corke, Koushik Seetharaman, Jon Faubion: Encyclopedia of Food Grains. Vol. 1, Second Edition, Academic Press, 2016, ISBN 978-0-12-803537-5 , p. 275.
- ↑ JR Olupot et al .: The effectiveness of Celosia argentia (Striga chaser) to control Striga on sorghum in Uganda. Crop Protection 22 / - / 2003. Pp. 463-8. Online version
- ↑ Flower Council Holland: Celosia argentea Caracas ( Memento of the original from October 11, 2006 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link has been inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
Web links
- Celosia argentea at Useful Tropical Plants, accessed March 1, 2018.