Dioecious pokeweed
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Dioecious pokeweed ( Phytolacca dioica ) |
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| Phytolacca dioica | ||||||||||||
| L. |
The Phytolacca dioica ( Phytolacca dioica ), also Ombubaum , Spanish Ombú or English called "Elephant Tree" (translated "Elephant Tree") is a plant from the genus of pokeweed ( Phytolacca ) within the family of Pokeweed (Phytolaccaceae).
The dioecious pokeweed grows in the pampas of South America .
features
The dioecious pokeweed grows as an evergreen tree that reaches heights of 12 to over 18 meters, the diameter of the umbrella-like, sometimes widely spreading treetop can be over 20 meters. The trunk diameter can reach over 4 meters. The dioecious pokeweed grows quickly, but - as is usual with tropical trees - without annual rings . The trunk is soft enough to cut through with a knife. The light gray to red-brown, smooth bark cracks with age.
Since the sap of the plant is poisonous, herbivores avoid it. In addition, the pokeweed is immune to locusts and other pests .
The alternately arranged and stalked, entire, simple leaves are leathery, elliptical to egg-shaped and 6 to 15 cm long. They are glabrous, with a conspicuous, clearly emphasized, lightened midrib and parallel, arched leaf veins . At the top they are rounded to pointed or pointed, less often indented. The evergreen to semi-evergreen leaves first turn yellow before the leaves fall, later purple.
The dioecious pokeweed is, in contrast to most species of the genus, dioecious separately sexed ( dioecious ). There are many flowers in hanging, sometimes upright, dense and terminal, racemose inflorescences . The radially symmetrical , five-fold and short-stalked, very small flowers are unisexual with a simple flower cover . Very small bracts and bracts are formed. There are only five green-whitish, 2–3 millimeters long, broadly egg-shaped bracts . The male flowers contain 20 to 30 protruding stamens and a pestle. The female flowers are minimally smaller, they have a spherical, upper permanent and vielkammerigen ovary having 6 to 7 short stylus and 10 Staminodien . There is one discus each.
It forms 8–12 lobed, fan-shaped, rounded and somewhat flattened, initially yellow, blackish, smooth berries with a persistent perianth when ripe . There is one seed in each compartment. The flattened, round seeds are smooth, shiny and blackish and 2.5-3 millimeters in size. The fruits often stay on the tree longer.
meaning
The dioecious pokeweed is a symbol of Uruguay , Argentina and the gauchos . Its canopy can be identified from afar and it offers protection from the sun and rain . There it is also called Bella Sombra (= beautiful shadow).
literature
- Marilena Idžojtić: Dendrology. Academic Press, 2018, ISBN 978-0-444-64175-5 , p. 456.
Web links
- Phytolacca dioica at Useful Tropical Plants.
- Photos and information at Baumkunde.
Individual evidence
- ^ Ombu Phytolacca dioica at National Trust - Trust Trees Australia.