Small salt alarm
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Small salt report ( Suaeda prostrata ) |
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| Suaeda prostrata | ||||||||||||
| Pall. |
The Klein-Salzmelde , Kleine Salzmelde or Kleine Sode ( Suaeda prostrata ) is a species of plant from the subfamily Suaedoideae in the foxtail family (Amaranthaceae). It has a Pontic-Pannonian-South Siberian distribution and rarely occurs in the Austrian Seewinkel . The species has been mistaken for decades by botanists in Europe and wrongly named as Suaeda pannonica (see section Systematics).
description
Vegetative characteristics
The Klein-Salzmelde is an annual herbaceous plant . The plant parts are bare and fresh green to grass green, later often purple-red in color, they never turn black when drying. The dainty main stem axes usually grow prostrate to ascending (very rarely upright), they only reach heights of 3 to 15 (rarely up to 35) cm and a stem diameter of (1) 1.5 to 2 (2.5) mm. Side branches arise from the base of each leaf axil, the lower ones are elongated and resemble the main axes. All axes end with dense spike-shaped inflorescences. Older stems are usually light brown at the time of fruiting and are rough after the leaves have been shed through the leaf scars. Further up, the axes of fruit ripening are discolored purple and not brittle.
The leaves are sitting with the exception of the lowest pair of leaves alternate on the stem. Its simple, fleshy leaf blade is linear, often curved, flat on top, convexly arched on the underside, with a length of 5 to 15 (20) mm and a width of (0.5) 0.7 to 1.3 ( 1.5) mm. When they ripen, they usually turn purple-red and never turn black.
Inflorescences and flowers
In the axils of the upper leaves there are three to five, rarely up to seven flowers in clusters that sit together in dense pseudo-spike inflorescences . These bracts are shorter than the foliage leaves, but (except for the uppermost) significantly longer than the internodes and the flower clusters. The flower clusters have small ovate bracts 0.5 mm long.
The hermaphrodite flowers have an envelope made of five inwardly curved, egg-shaped, skin-fringed tepals . There are three to five stamens present (rarely missing). The ovary bears two scars .
The flowering time of the Klein-Salzmelde ranges from July to September, the fruit ripening from September to October.
Fruits and seeds
After flowering, the flower envelope on the side flowers of the cluster increases and becomes bluntly pentagonal, almost radial, and reaches 1.2 to 1.7 mm in diameter. The convex, inwardly curved tepals are about the same size and when fresh have no or only weak bumps. (In the case of herbarium, however, the shrinking of the fleshy tepal lobes can cause keels or humps as a drying artifact) Two different types of fruit with different seeds are produced ( heterocarpy ): Small, thick-skinned, black seeds with a rounded outline, an indistinct beak (radicula) and a diameter of 0.8 to 1.1 mm, with a clearly sculpted, matt to slightly shiny surface . They are partially released from the perianth. In addition, large, thin-skinned, light brown seeds with an almost circular outline and 0.9 to 1.3 mm in diameter with a clearly protruding spiral embryo arise. They remain enclosed by the bracts. In larger plants with a good supply of nutrients, the proportion of thin-skinned seeds is higher, whereas very small, strongly succulent plants form mainly thick-skinned seeds.
Distinguishing features
The more delicate growth form, the shorter leaves, the symmetrical fruit shell without tuberous tepal lobes and the smaller seeds can be used as distinguishing features to the large salt marsh ( Suaeda pannonica ). In addition, the location requirements of the two species differ.
Chromosome number
The number of chromosomes is 2n = 18 (2x).
Occurrence and endangerment
The distribution area of the Klein-Salzmelde includes the Pannonian Basin , Croatia , Ukraine and Russia (central Volga), northwest Kazakhstan and southern Siberia . This species is also listed in the "Flora of China".
In Austria, the Klein-Salzmelde occurs only rarely in northern Burgenland on the east bank of Lake Neusiedl . Former sites were also on its northeast and north banks, as well as in Lower Austria on the northern edge of the Vienna basin (between Gallbrunn and Margarethen am Moos ) and in the northern Weinviertel (for example near Retz , Saliterheide near Zwingendorf ). These extinct occurrences were located on the westernmost area boundary. The Klein-Salzmelde is considered endangered in Austria and extinct in Lower Austria.
The Klein-Salzmelde is a halophyte and colonizes humid, in summer drying up, partly heavily grazed salt corridors on saline and nutrient-rich Solontschak soils. There it occurs more often together with Pannonia glass malt ( Salicornia prostrata ), less often together with the large salt marsh ( Suaeda pannonica ).
Systematics and history of confusion
The first description of Suaeda prostrata was made in 1803 by Peter Simon Pallas (in: Illustrationes Plantarum 55, tab 47.). Synonyms for Suaeda prostrata Pall. are Chenopodina prostrata ( Pall. ) Moq. and Suaeda maritima subsp. prostrata ( pall. ) Soó . Other synonyms are Schoberia parviflora Less. and Suaeda parviflora ( Less. ) Moq. called.
Suaeda prostrata Pall. belongs to the section Brezia in the subgenus Brezia within the genus Suaeda .
For decades, Austrian and Hungarian botanists gave the Klein-Salzmelde a false scientific name, namely Suaeda "pannonica" . The error has been found since the 19th century in most of the flora and fauna writings and also in the "List of Vascular Plants of Central Europe". This false name of Suaeda prostrata was only discovered in 1990 by the Czech botanist Pavel Tomšovic . The double confusion of the Groß-Salzmelde (the real Suaeda pannonica ) was made in 1996 by Helmut Freitag & al. corrected.
The correct names are used in the literature from the 2nd edition of the Red List for Austria (Niklfeld & Schratt - Ehrendorfer 1999), the 93rd edition of the Schmeil / Fitschen flora (Seybold 2006), the 2nd edition of the Austrian excursion flora ( Fischer & al. 2005) and the Hungarian excursion flora (Király 2009). In all older works, Suaeda prostrata is always listed under Suaeda "pannonica" !
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c d e f g h i Helmut Freitag, J. Walter, W. Wucherer: The genus Suaeda (Chenopodiaceae) in Austria, with a view of the neighboring Pannonian countries. In: Ann. Naturhist. Mus. Vienna B 98 Suppl. , 1996, pp. 343-367. (pdf)
- ↑ a b c d e f g Manfred A. Fischer, Arndt Kästner: The Suaeda story of confusion: two prominent species of the Austrian flora - and yet misunderstood for decades! In: Neilreichia , Volume 6, 2011, pp. 165-182. (pdf)
- ↑ Gelin Zhu, Sergei L. Mosyakin- Steven E. Clemants: Chenopodiaceae : Suaeda prostrata , p. 393 - online with the same text as the printed work , In: Wu Zhengyi, Peter H. Raven, Deyuan Hong (eds.): Flora of China , Volume 5: Ulmaceae through Basellaceae. , Science Press and Missouri Botanical Garden Press, Beijing and St. Louis, 2003, ISBN 1-930723-27-X .
- ↑ a b Helmut Freitag, Maria Lomonosova: Typification and identity of Suaeda crassifolia , S. prostrata and S. salsa , three often confused species of Suaeda sect. Brezia (Chenopodiaceae, Suaedoideae). In: Willdenowia , Volume 36. 2006, pp. 21-36.
