Water spring
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Water feather ( Hottonia palustris ) |
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The (European) Water spring or Wasserprimel ( Hottonia palustris ) is one of two plant species of the genus hottonia ( Hottonia ) within the family of Primrose (Primulaceae). It thrives in the temperate zones of Europe and Asia Minor.
description
Vegetative characteristics
The water feather is a wintering green, perennial herbaceous plant . It usually grows submerged in fresh water. The submerged main stem axis of the stem plant with numerous thread-like, white roots is 15 to 50 centimeters long and is rooted in the mud. On it grow from the nodes rosette-like, light green leaves that are pinnate in a comb shape with a length of up to 8 centimeters. The mostly 3, rarely up to 5 centimeters long and 1.5 millimeter wide leaf sections can be forked. Both the inflorescence and the stem are covered with red stalk glands.
Generative characteristics
In the leaf axils there are 30 to 50 centimeters long inflorescences that protrude above the water surface; three to six stalked flowers are arranged in tiered whorls .
The hermaphrodite flowers are five-fold with a double flower envelope . The calyx is deeply cut. The white to pale pink corolla has a diameter of up to 2 centimeters.
The capsule fruits are spherical.
The number of chromosomes is 2n = 20.
ecology
The water feather is a hydromorphic hydrophyte ; an aquatic plant rooted under water , less often a marsh plant in dry waters . The heavily divided leaves serve to increase the surface area and thus to better absorb nutrient salts as well as oxygen and carbon dioxide . The aquatic plant survives as a green plant and also withstands freezing in winter waters quite well. Vegetative reproduction occurs through branching in the water.
From an ecological point of view, it is a " nectar- bearing disc flower ". The flowers are different to the touch, so they show heterostyly . Pollinators are two-winged birds , especially hoverflies and other short-nosed insects . Sometimes the flowers remain closed, so cloying . The flowering period extends from May to July.
The spherical capsule fruits open through five flaps at the top. The diaspores spread by swimming and as attachments to water birds .
Occurrence
The European water spring is represented in temperate Europe (excluding the Mediterranean region), in the European part of Russia and selectively in Asia Minor . It occurs scattered in Central Europe.
Their habitat are shallow, only moderately nutrient-rich bodies of water such as ditches, ponds , bog lakes and oxbow lakes . The water spring is mainly to be found in lowlands .
The European water spring is able to withstand the temporary drying out of a body of water. It then forms a dense lawn over the damp muddy soil, with the leaves remaining much smaller than in the aquatic form. However, heavy foliage can hinder the water spring and thin out this lawn .
In terms of plant sociology, the water feather is the character type of an association that, with the accompanying species marsh water star ( Callitriche palustris ) , small duckweed ( Lemna minor ) and the common frog spoon ( Alisma plantago aquatica ), forms the Hottonietum palustris Tx. May form 1937.
In many places in Central Europe the water spring is on the red list of threatened plant species. It was rated endangered in 1996 on the Red List of Threatened Plant Species. Among other things, it is "specially protected" according to the German Federal Nature Conservation Act and must not be taken from nature.
literature
- Henning Haeupler, Thomas Muer: picture atlas of the fern and flowering plants of Germany . Ed .: Federal Agency for Nature Conservation (= The fern and flowering plants of Germany . Volume 2 ). Eugen Ulmer, Stuttgart (Hohenheim) 2000, ISBN 3-8001-3364-4 .
- Ruprecht Düll , Herfried Kutzelnigg : Pocket dictionary of plants in Germany and neighboring countries. The most common Central European species in portrait . 7th, corrected and enlarged edition. Quelle & Meyer, Wiebelsheim 2011, ISBN 978-3-494-01424-1 .
- Fritz Runge: The plant communities of Central Europe. Aschendorff, Münster, 1986. ISBN 3-402-04383-1 .
- Elfrune Wendelberger: Plants of the wetlands. BLV-Intensivführer, Munich, 1986. ISBN 3-405-12967-2 .
- Christel Kasselmann : aquarium plants. Ulmer Verlag, Stuttgart 1995; 2nd, revised and expanded edition 1999, ISBN 3-8001-7454-5 , p. 296.
Web links
- Profile and distribution map for Bavaria . In: Botanical Information Hub of Bavaria .
- Profile ( Memento from March 12, 2016 in the Internet Archive ), BioFlor database of biological-ecological characteristics of the flora of Germany
- Hottonia palustris L. In: Info Flora , the national data and information center for Swiss flora . Retrieved January 19, 2016.
- Distribution of Hottonia palustris in the northern hemisphere at linnaeus.nrm.se .
- Thomas Meyer: Wasserfeder data sheet with identification key and photos at Flora-de: Flora von Deutschland (old name of the website: Flowers in Swabia ).
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c d e f Hottonia palustris L., Wasserfeder. In: FloraWeb.de.
- ^ Erich Oberdorfer : Plant-sociological excursion flora for Germany and neighboring areas . With the collaboration of Angelika Schwabe and Theo Müller. 8th, heavily revised and expanded edition. Eugen Ulmer, Stuttgart (Hohenheim) 2001, ISBN 3-8001-3131-5 , pp. 741 .