Wheel tree

Wheel tree
	Radbaum ( Trochodendron aralioides )
Systematics
Class :	Bedecktsamer (Magnoliopsida)
	Eudicotyledons
Order :	Trochodendrales
Family :	Trochodendraceae
Genre :	Trochodendron
Type :	Wheel tree
Scientific name of the genus
	Trochodendron
	Siebold & Zucc.
Scientific name of the species
	Trochodendron aralioides
	Siebold & Zucc.

Branch with leaves and inflorescence

Single flower without flower cover with many stamens and the carpels that are only fused at their base

Follicles in the collective fruit

The wheel tree ( Trochodendron aralioides ) is the only species of the therefore monotypical genus Trochodendron in the family Trochodendraceae . It is native to Japan , the Ryūkyū Islands, and Taiwan .

description

Appearance and leaves

The wheel tree grows as an evergreen tree that reaches heights of up to 20 meters, but usually remains significantly lower in culture, or it grows as a shrub . All parts of the plant are bare. The protruding branches have brown or gray bark .

The leaves are alternate and almost tufted at the branch ends. The petiole is 3 to 7 inches long. The leathery, simple leaf blades are about 6 to 12 centimeters long and 2.5 to 7 centimeters wide, rhombic-ovoid to obovate with a blunt or pointed upper end. On each side of the midrib five to seven lateral veins are formed. The base is wedge-shaped, the leaf margin sawn like a gland. The upper side of the leaf is dark green and shiny, the lower side of the leaf is lighter than the upper side. Stipules are missing.

blossoms

The flowering period extends from May to June. Ten to twenty flowers are in terminal, weakly branched, racemose inflorescences , which have a diameter of 5 to 13 centimeters. The flower stalks are 1.5 to 3.5 inches long.

The greenish, hermaphrodite flowers have a diameter of up to 18 millimeters and have no flower envelope . At the edge of a wide, green discus , 40 to 70 stamens 4.5 to 5 millimeters long stand out. The anthers are long and yellow. The four to eleven carpels are laterally fused together.

Fruits and seeds

The four to eleven multi-seeded follicles are fused at the base with the flower axis to form a dark gray collective fruit with a diameter of 7 to 10 millimeters. The brown or black seeds are 1.5 to 2 or 3 to 3.5 millimeters long and spindle-shaped.

Chromosome number

The number of chromosomes is 2n = 40 or 2n = 38.

Distribution and location requirements

The distribution area of the wheel tree extends over Taiwan , Japan and the Ryūkyū Islands . There it grows in evergreen forests or steppes and dry forests on moderately nutrient-rich, weakly acidic to weakly alkaline, sandy-loamy to loamy soils at altitudes of 300 to 2700 meters. It prefers light-shady to partially shaded locations, is moderately frost-resistant and loves warmth.

Systematics

Trochodendron aralioides is the only species of the therefore monotypical genus Trochodendron in the family Trochodendraceae . Only one other genus, Tetracentron, is included in the family, which is also monotypical.

The generic name Trochodendron is derived from the Greek words "trochos" for wheel and "dendron" for tree. "Trochos" refers to the stamens arranged in a ring. The specific epithet aralioides indicates the similarity to some species of the genus Aralia .

proof

literature

Andreas Roloff, Andreas Bärtels: Flora of the woods. Purpose, properties and use . 3rd, corrected edition. Eugen Ulmer, Stuttgart (Hohenheim) 2008, ISBN 978-3-8001-5614-6 , pp. 657 .
Dezhi Fu, Peter K. Endress: Trochodendraceae : genus Trochodendron and species Trochodendron aralioides . In: Wu Zhengyi, Peter H. Raven, Deyuan Hong (Eds.): Flora of China . Volume 6: Caryophyllaceae through Lardizabalaceae . Science Press / Missouri Botanical Garden Press, Beijing / St. Louis 2001, ISBN 1-930723-05-9 , pp. 124 (English).
Shing-Fan Huang, Tsan-Piao Lin: Migration of Trochodendron aralioides (Trochodendraceae) in Taiwan and its adjacent areas . In: Botanical Studies . tape 47 , 2006, p. 83–88 ( online (PDF; 426 kB) [accessed on September 11, 2010]).

Individual evidence

↑ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g Roloff et al .: Flora der Gehölze , p. 657
↑ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h Dezhi Fu, Peter K. Endress: Trochodendraceae : genus Trochodendron and species Trochodendron aralioides . In: Wu Zhengyi, Peter H. Raven, Deyuan Hong (Eds.): Flora of China . Volume 6: Caryophyllaceae through Lardizabalaceae . Science Press / Missouri Botanical Garden Press, Beijing / St. Louis 2001, ISBN 1-930723-05-9 , pp. 124 (English).
↑ Trochodendron aralioides at Tropicos.org. In: IPCN Chromosome Reports . Missouri Botanical Garden, St. Louis
↑ Trochodendron aralioides. Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN), accessed September 11, 2010 .
↑ Helmut Genaust: Etymological dictionary of botanical plant names. 3rd, completely revised and expanded edition. Nikol, Hamburg 2005, ISBN 3-937872-16-7 , p. 660 (reprint from 1996).

Web links

Commons : Radbaum ( Trochodendron aralioides ) - Collection of images, videos and audio files

[FdG-1] ↑ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g Roloff et al .: Flora der Gehölze , p. 657

[FoC-2] ↑ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h Dezhi Fu, Peter K. Endress: Trochodendraceae : genus Trochodendron and species Trochodendron aralioides . In: Wu Zhengyi, Peter H. Raven, Deyuan Hong (Eds.): Flora of China . Volume 6: Caryophyllaceae through Lardizabalaceae . Science Press / Missouri Botanical Garden Press, Beijing / St. Louis 2001, ISBN 1-930723-05-9 , pp. 124 (English).

[IPCN-3] Trochodendron aralioides at Tropicos.org. In: IPCN Chromosome Reports . Missouri Botanical Garden, St. Louis

[GRIN-4] Trochodendron aralioides. Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN), accessed September 11, 2010 .

[Genaust660-5] Helmut Genaust: Etymological dictionary of botanical plant names. 3rd, completely revised and expanded edition. Nikol, Hamburg 2005, ISBN 3-937872-16-7 , p. 660 (reprint from 1996).