zinnia

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zinnia
Zinnia variety

Zinnia variety

Systematics
Order : Astern-like (Asterales)
Family : Daisy family (Asteraceae)
Subfamily : Asteroideae
Tribe : Heliantheae
Genre : Zinnias ( Zinnia )
Type : zinnia
Scientific name
Zinnia elegans
Jacq.
Double, white variety. The triangular, seated, opposite leaves are easy to see. The two lateral nerves leading forward can also be seen.

The zinnia ( Zinnia elegans Jacq. , Syn. : Zinnia violacea . Cav ) is a plant from the genus of zinnias ( Zinnia ) in the family of the daisy family (Asteraceae), originally from Mexico comes from. Their varieties are ornamental plants in parks and gardens in temperate climates .

description

It is an upright, unbranched to branched, annual herbaceous plant that can reach heights of up to one meter, some varieties even more in suitable climates. The stem is upright hairy towards the base, hairy close to the tip.

The seated, more or less elongated triangular leaves are opposite - rather unusual for a sunflower family . They are 6 to 10 cm long and 2 to 6 cm wide. At the bottom they are trimmed to heart-shaped. They are entire. In addition to the central rib, two other clearly visible ribs run forward in an arc. The short hair makes the leaves feel rough.

The terminal cup-shaped inflorescences are usually solitary, upright on up to 15 cm long, sometimes fluted and slightly thickened stems at the top. The flower head has a cover with a diameter of ten to fifteen millimeters and a height of 5 to 25 mm, from 20 to 25 bracts , which are in three to four rows. The bracts are roughly semicircular, and green except for a blackish edge or tip. A flower head contains 100 to over 150 tubular flowers (= disc flowers) and eight to 21 (in cultivations up to three times as many) ray flowers.

Zinnia ( Zinnia elegans )

The female ray florets are 1 to 3.5 cm long, in cultivated varieties also significantly longer. They are narrow-oval and often have two or three small teeth at the tip. Their colors are orange-red and purple, in breeding there are almost all colors from white, green, yellow to orange and red to purple.

The mostly yellow tubular flowers have five clearly visible, narrow triangular, and back-curved corolla lobes; sometimes the outer tubular-florets are also blackish. They are a total of 7 to 9 mm long and the corolla lobes are 1 to 2.5 mm long. Among the varieties there are also many "double" ones that do not have tubular flowers.

The tubular flowers have five corolla lobes that are curved back

The flowering period in Mexico is from August to November. In Central Europe, the varieties bloom from July to October.

The achenes are 6 to 10 mm long. In the ray-florets they are triangular and in the tubular-florets they are compressed. The pure species lacks a pappus; a hairy pappus may be present in breeds in which other species are often crossed. During the ripening of the fruit, the ray florets remain on the achenes as flight organs.

The number of chromosomes is 2n = 24.

ingredients

Zinnias contain sesquiterpene lactones , which can lead to allergic reactions ( contact allergens ). They also contain nicotine .

Occurrence

Zinnia elegans originally only comes from central Mexico , but is naturalized in Nicaragua and Panama . The species is also a neophyte in North America, in South and Central America, in the Caribbean and in southern Europe. This species grows on roadsides, fallow fields and pastures.

Cultural history

The plant is named after the botanist Johann Gottfried Zinn . He first described the zinnias in 1757 as Rudbeckia foliis oppositis hirsutis ovato-acutis, calyce imbricatus, radii petalis pistillatis . Carl von Linné recognized that it was not a Rudbeckia and named the species Zinnia pauciflora in honor of Zinn, who died in 1759 .

The zinnia was brought to Europe from Mexico in 1790. The first description was made by Jacquin in Vienna in 1793 using a red-flowered form. The name was compared to the name Zinnia violacea Cav in 2012 . preserved. In 1796 the Madrid Botanical Garden was given a violet-flowered shape. In 1800 she came to England. She came to Germany in 1808 (Berlin). The species, which can be easily propagated via seeds, quickly became a popular garden plant, as it can develop flowers of different colors starting from a mother plant. In 1836 there were already ten varieties.

A filled variant was created in France in 1856. Additional varieties were probably created by crossing other zinnia species.

Today there is an abundance of high and low varieties from 90 to 30 centimeters in height in different colors and fillings. The ornamental varieties are often hybrids of Zinnia angustifolia and Zinnia elegans .

Zinnia in the Cupola module of the International Space Station

At the beginning of 2016, an orange-yellow zinnia was raised on the International Space Station ISS . The zinnia is mainly used for decoration, but it is also quite edible.

Since April 2, 2020, the zinnia can also be seen on a German Post stamp. It is a 50 euro cents stamp from the flowers series.

Sources and further information

literature

Web links

Commons : Zinnia ( Zinnia elegans )  - Collection of images, videos, and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ 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.  926 .
  2. ^ A b Zinnia elegans in the Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN), USDA , ARS , National Genetic Resources Program. National Germplasm Resources Laboratory, Beltsville, Maryland.
  3. ↑ Kristina Beer: US astronaut: First "space flower" blooms on the ISS space station. In: Heise online . January 18, 2016, accessed January 18, 2016 .
  4. ↑ New Items April 2020: Flowers, Optical Illusions, Subway Stations, Politics. April 2, 2020, accessed on June 19, 2020 (German).