Spur (botany)

Flower of a small balsam ( Impatiens parviflora ) with a calyx-spur

Mosquito-Haendelwurz ( Gymnadenia conopsea ): flowers with nectar-filled spur

In flowering plants, a spur is a hollow protrusion in the area of the flower that extends away from the interior of the flower. It is usually part of the crown , more rarely part of the calyx or the flower axis .

Petals with a spur have, for example, violets ( Viola ), lark's spurs ( Corydalis ) or dicentra . Sepal spurs are rather rare and occur in balsam ( Impatiens ). A nectar petales sheet of spur comes about when Eisenhut ( Aconitum before), a gesporntes perianth in larkspur ( Delphinium ). The nasturtium ( Tropaeolum ) has a spurred flower base . The spur can also be part of the complete crown - for example in toadflax ( Linaria ) - or the calyx tube.

A spur is usually longer than it is wide. Short hollow formations are usually referred to as bulges.

Usually spurs appear in zygomorphic flowers, less often in radial symmetry , such as Columbine ( Aquilegia ) or Halenia .

Spurs arise from a locally limited strong surface growth of the leaf lamina. They are adaptations to pollinating insects with licking-sucking or sucking mouthparts and are related to the production of nectar .

On the one hand, spurs can themselves be the nectar-producing organs, such as in the columbine ( Aquilegia ). But they can also serve as a nectar reservoir, while the nectar is formed by other organs, such as in the violets ( viola ), where two appendages of stamens protrude into the spur.

supporting documents

↑ ^a ^b Gerhard Wagenitz : Dictionary of Botany. The terms in their historical context. 2nd, expanded edition. Spektrum Akademischer Verlag, Heidelberg / Berlin 2003, ISBN 3-8274-1398-2 , p. 304.
↑ ^a ^b ^c Peter Leins: blossom and fruit. Morphology, history of development, phylogeny, function, ecology. E. Schweizerbart'sche Verlagsbuchhandlung, Stuttgart 2000, ISBN 3-510-65194-4 , p. 40 f.
^ ^A ^b Manfred A. Fischer , Karl Oswald, Wolfgang Adler: Excursion flora for Austria, Liechtenstein and South Tyrol. 3rd, improved edition. State of Upper Austria, Biology Center of the Upper Austrian State Museums, Linz 2008, ISBN 978-3-85474-187-9 , p. 98.

Web links

Commons : Blossoms with a spur - Album with pictures, videos and audio files

[Wagenitz-1] Gerhard Wagenitz : Dictionary of Botany. The terms in their historical context. 2nd, expanded edition. Spektrum Akademischer Verlag, Heidelberg / Berlin 2003, ISBN 3-8274-1398-2 , p. 304.

[Leins-2] Peter Leins: blossom and fruit. Morphology, history of development, phylogeny, function, ecology. E. Schweizerbart'sche Verlagsbuchhandlung, Stuttgart 2000, ISBN 3-510-65194-4 , p. 40 f.

[ÖExkFl-3] A ^b Manfred A. Fischer , Karl Oswald, Wolfgang Adler: Excursion flora for Austria, Liechtenstein and South Tyrol. 3rd, improved edition. State of Upper Austria, Biology Center of the Upper Austrian State Museums, Linz 2008, ISBN 978-3-85474-187-9 , p. 98.