Water hyacinths
| Water hyacinths | ||||||||||||
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Thick-stemmed water hyacinth ( Eichhornia crassipes ), inflorescence |
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| Scientific name | ||||||||||||
| Eichhornia | ||||||||||||
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The water hyacinths ( Eichhornia ) are a genus of plants in the family of the water hyacinth plants (Pontederiaceae) in the order of the Commelina-like (Commelinales) within the flowering plants (Magnoliopsida). The scientific generic name Eichhornia honors the Prussian minister of culture Johann Albrecht Friedrich von Eichhorn (1779–1856).
distribution
The home is the tropics of South America ( Neotropic ).
Some species were brought to other tropical areas as ornamental plants and tend to grow wild, in some cases they displace other species and weed waters (such as the thick-stemmed water hyacinth , one of the most invasive neophytes worldwide ). The waters are silting up more or changing their habitat type ; shipping is also partially hindered.
use
The water hyacinths have given cause, not least because of their extremely strong reproduction, to look for possible uses. Currently (2012) water hyacinths are used as a raw material for wickerwork and for paper production. They are suitable for feeding biogas plants and for decontaminating waters contaminated with heavy metals. Some species are used as aquarium plants.
description
Eichhornia species are mostly perennial , but there are also annual herbaceous plants . They are herbaceous, floating aquatic plants that float with inflated petioles. The leaves are all formed at the base of the shoot , mostly only the leaves are above water, but there are also submerged (under water) forms, then the leaves are alternate.
The ährigen inflorescences have two bracts (bracts) and contain up to 30 flowers. The mostly blue flowers are hermaphroditic , threefold and zygomorphic . They are heterostyle - a property that is otherwise not found in monocot plants. The three pistils have become a top permanent ovary grown. Pollination occurs by insects ( entomophilia ). There are cap fruits or nuts formed.
Systematics
The genus of water hyacinths ( Eichhornia Kunth ) includes seven species:
- Azure water hyacinth ( Eichhornia azurea (Swartz) Kunth , syn. Or trade name: Pontederia azurea ): The home of this "sky blue" flower-bearing species, also called thin-stemmed squirrel or thin-stemmed water hyacinth , is tropical America.
- Thick-stemmed water hyacinth ( Eichhornia crassipes (Martius) Solms , Syn .: Eichhornia speciosa Knuth , Pontederia crassipes Mart. , Piaropus crassipes (Martius) Rafinesque ): The original home is the southern tropical America.
- Uneven-leaved or different-leaved water hyacinth ( Eichhornia diversifolia (Vahl) Urban ; Syn .: Eichhornia natans (P.Beauv.) Solms ): The home is tropical America (Central America, South America).
- Eichhornia heterosperma Alexander : The home is tropical America.
- Eichhornia meyeri A.G. Schulz : It occurs from eastern Bolivia to Brazil.
- Brazilian water hyacinth ( Eichhornia paniculata (Sprengel) Solms-Laubach , Syn .: Piaropus paniculatus (Sprengel) Small , Eichhornia martiana Seub. ): The distribution area extends from Florida and southern Mexico to tropical America.
- Eichhornia paradoxa (Mart. Ex Schult. & Schult.f.) Solms : The home is Costa Rica, Guatemala, Venezuela and Brazil.
photos
Azure water hyacinth ( Eichhornia azurea )
Azure water hyacinth ( Eichhornia azurea )
Thick-stemmed water hyacinth ( Eichhornia crassipes )
Eichhornia diversifolia in Burkina Faso
swell
- Charles N. Horn: Pontederiaceae in the Flora of North America , Volume 26, p. 38: Magnoliophyta: Liliidae: Liliales and Orchidales , 2002: Eichhornia - Online. (Section description)
- Description in the Western Australian Flora. (engl.)
supporting documents
- ↑ Lotte Burkhardt: Directory of eponymous plant names . Extended Edition. Botanic Garden and Botanical Museum Berlin, Free University Berlin Berlin 2018. [1]
- ↑ Christel Kasselmann : aquarium plants. Ulmer Verlag, Stuttgart 1995; 2nd, revised and expanded edition 1999, ISBN 3-8001-7454-5 , pp. 278–283.
- ↑ a b c d e f g h Rafaël Govaerts (Ed.): Eichhornia. In: World Checklist of Selected Plant Families (WCSP) - The Board of Trustees of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew . Retrieved August 8, 2018.
- ↑ Christel Kasselmann: aquarium plants. 1999, p. 278 f .; Hans-Georg Kramer: Plant aquaristics á la Kramer. Tetra-Verlag, Berlin-Velten 2009, ISBN 978-3-89745-190-2 , p. 132 f.
- ↑ Christel Kasselmann (1999), p. 281 ( Eichhornia diversifolia ) and 283 ( Eichhornia natans ).
Web links
- Eichhornia . In: U. Brunken, M. Schmidt, S. Dressler, T. Janssen, A. Thiombiano, G. Zizka: West African plants - A Photo Guide. Senckenberg Research Institute, Frankfurt am Main 2008.