Xiphidium caeruleum
| Xiphidium caeruleum | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Xiphidium caeruleum |
||||||||||||
| Systematics | ||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||
| Scientific name of the genus | ||||||||||||
| Xiphidium | ||||||||||||
| Aubl. | ||||||||||||
| Scientific name of the species | ||||||||||||
| Xiphidium caeruleum | ||||||||||||
| Aubl. |
Xiphidium caeruleum is the only species of the genus Xiphidium fromthe Haemodoraceae family . It is common in the Neotropics .
description
Vegetative characteristics
Xiphidium caeruleum is a perennial, herbaceous plant that reaches heights of 15 to 200 centimeters. The rhizome is creeping and contains red-orange juice.
The slightly succulent, sword-shaped leaves are linear and 20 to 65 centimeters long.
Generative characteristics
The thyrsen-like inflorescences are weak to strongly branched coils of 5 to 25 individual flowers and 2 to 44 centimeters long. The strongly stalked flowers are white to yellow-white. The anthers of the three stamens open at the pores of the extreme end. Staminodes are absent. The ovary is round.
The capsule fruit is spherical with a diameter of 5 to 10 millimeters, is initially orange in color, red to black when ripe and contains numerous seeds.
ecology
Xiphidium caeruleum excrete a scent through their osmophores that attracts pollen- collecting bees of the genus Euglossa or Paratetrapedia and only release their pollen through the sound frequency of the approaching pollinator ( vibration pollination / buzz pollination ).
distribution
Xiphidium caeruleum is common in the Neotropic. It occurs from Mexico to Brazil and Bolivia as well as on the West Indies . It is common on paths in forests.
Systematics and botanical history
The species was first discovered by Pehr Löfling under the name "Ixia. Xiphidium Authoris ”. The description was published in 1758 in his posthumous work Iter Hispanicum, eller resa til Spanska Ländera uti Europa och America , edited by Carl von Linné . The genus Xiphidium was established in 1775 by Jean Baptiste Christophore Fusée Aublet . The species was given the name Xiphidium caeruleum , which is valid today . The genus name Xiphidium refers to the sword-shaped leaves (Greek xiphidion = sword).
Barthélemy Charles Joseph Dumortier placed the genus Xiphidium in its own family Xiphidiaceae. Xiphidium is placed in the subfamily Haemodoroideae of the Haemodoraceae family .
proof
- Anton Weber, Werner Huber, Anton Weissenhofer, Nelson Zamora, Georg Zimmermann: An introductory Field Guide to the flowering plants of the Golfo Dulce Rain Forests Costa Rica. In: Stapfia. Volume 78, 2001, p. 138, ISSN 0252-192X / ISBN 3854740727 , PDF on ZOBODAT
Individual evidence
- ↑ Helmut Genaust: Etymological dictionary of botanical plant names. 3rd, completely revised and expanded edition. Birkhäuser, Basel / Boston / Berlin 1996, ISBN 3-7643-2390-6 (reprint ISBN 3-937872-16-7 ).
