Spigelia genuflexa
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Spigelia genuflexa |
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| Popovkin & Struwe |
Spigelia genuflexa is a species from the plant genus Spigelia within the family of the nugget plants (Loganiaceae). It occurs in eastern Brazil. It is the first known species of the nugget family which produces its fruits at least partially on the surface of the earth or underground (geocarp).
description
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Vegetative characteristics
Spigelia genuflexa grows as an annual herbaceous plant that can reach heights of 1.5 to 25 centimeters. The fibrous roots are rather short. The reddish-tinted stems branch out at the base. Four to six conspicuous ribs run down the stem from the leaf bases.
The arranged at the lower stem against constantly and below the inflorescence as Viererwirtel leaves are divided into a leaf blade and a 0.1 to 0.2 centimeter long petiole. The leaf blade is at a length of 0.6 to 2 centimeters and a width of 0.2 to 0.5 centimeters elliptical to ovate to a pointed base and blunt upper end. The entire margins of the leaves are flat or slightly rolled down. The upper side of the leaf is covered with numerous short and translucent hairs, while the underside of the leaf is hairless. From the raised central rib on the underside of the leaf, four to six pairs of curved secondary nerves branch off, which are inconspicuous on both leaf sides. The triangular stipules stand between the petioles on the stems and have no papillae on the outside .
Inflorescences and flowers
The flowering period as well as the fruit ripeness of Spigelia genuflexa extend from March to November and thus fall into the rainy season . Pollination could take place via ants ( myrmecophilia ) and three to four weeks pass between flowering and fruit ripening. Four to seven, but rarely even a flower stand in a single, rarely one-sidedness in several traubigen until just traubigen or dichasischen together and unbranched inflorescence. The up to 2.8 centimeter long inflorescence stands on a 0.7 to 1.5 centimeter long inflorescence stalk and has one to two tiny bracts per flower , which can also be completely missing.
The radial symmetry flowers are five, rarely six-fold. The green and fused sepals are already split at their base and the calyx lobes are triangular with a length of 0.8 to 1.4 millimeters and a width of around 0.3 millimeters with a tapering upper end and slightly warty edges. The white petals have pink corolla lobes and are fused into a corolla tube 4 to 8 millimeters long and 2.5 to 3 millimeters wide at the opening. With a length of 1 to 1.5 millimeters and a width of around 1 millimeter, the crown lobes are triangular in shape with pointed upper ends and soft edges. The stamens are fused with this up to the middle of the corolla tube and become the same length as this. The stamens are flattened and the anthers are 0.7 to 0.8 millimeters long. Two carpels are to a two-chambered and egg-shaped with a diameter of about 0.4 millimeters ovary fused with truncated tip. The simple stylus bears the scar , which is also simple and delicate .
Fruits and seeds
While the fruit is ripening, the lowest fruit clusters bend towards the ground and release the fruit on the surface of the ground or bury them under soft vegetation such as moss. The upper fruit clusters also bend slightly towards the ground. Spigelia genuflexa making it the only known way of loganiaceae is the geokarp, so the fruit is formed on the ground. The two-chamber capsule fruits are 1.5 to 2 millimeters long and 2 to 3 millimeters wide. They are colored light brown at maturity and their surface is warty. The brown seeds are round with a diameter of around 0.7 to 1 millimeter and have a dry, net-like surface.
Distribution and occurrence
The natural range of Spigelia genuflexa is in eastern Brazil. As far as is known, there are two deposits in the northeastern part of the state of Bahia , each around 30 kilometers from the Atlantic coast.
Spigelia genuflexa grows on sandy soils covered with leaves and moss in the Mata Atlântica .
Systematics
It was first described as Spigelia genuflexa in 2011 by Alex V. Popovkin and Lena Struwe in PhytoKeys , number 6, page 49. The specific epithet genuflexa refers to the infructescence that bent towards the ground, which reminded the first person to bow. The species was discovered by José Carlos Mendes Santos, a plant collector and housemaid of Popovkin while doing a squat exercise .
swell
- Alex V. Popovkin, Katherine G. Mathews, José Carlos Mendes Santos, M. Carmen Molina, Lena Struwe: Spigelia genuflexa (Loganiaceae), a new geocarpic species from the Atlantic forest of northeastern Bahia, Brazil . In: PhytoKeys . No. 6 , 2011, ISSN 1314-2003 , p. 47-65 , doi : 10.3897 / phytokeys.6.1654 .
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c d e f g h Alex V. Popovkin, Katherine G. Mathews, José Carlos Mendes Santos, M. Carmen Molina, Lena Struwe: Spigelia genuflexa (Loganiaceae), a new geocarpic species from the Atlantic forest of northeastern Bahia, Brazil . In: PhytoKeys . No. 6 , 2011, ISSN 1314-2003 , p. 47-65 , doi : 10.3897 / phytokeys.6.1654 .
