Dwarf elephant

Dwarf elephant
Systematics
Order :	Astern-like (Asterales)
Family :	Daisy family (Asteraceae)
Subfamily :	Asteroideae
Tribe :	Inuleae
Genre :	Alante ( Inula )
Type :	Dwarf elephant
Scientific name
	Inula acaulis
	Schott & Kotschy ex Boiss.

The dwarf elephant ( Inula acaulis ) is a species of the Alante ( Inula ) in the sunflower family (Asteraceae). The homeland of the dwarf alant is eastern Turkey and western Transcaucasia. It is cultivated as an ornamental plant, especially in the rock garden .

description

The dwarf elephant grows as a perennial herbaceous plant with a rhizome as a storage organ. The flowering stems reach heights of growth of mostly 2 to 5 centimeters, sometimes up to 20 centimeters; they are unbranched, often tinged with purple, and are covered by white, spread out, shaggy hair.

The growth is compact, forming rosettes. The basal leaves are petiolate. They vary in length between 3 and 6 centimeters, in width between 0.6 and 1.5 centimeters. The leaf blade has an inverted lanceolate to spatulate shape. Except for the entire, ciliate leaf margin , it is hairless.

The flowers are grouped in baskets . The baskets usually stand individually, rarely in pairs. Their diameter is 3.5 to 4 centimeters. The cover is 1.5 to 2.5 cm wide. The adjacent bracts are arranged in several rows. The outer bracts are leaf-like, 6 to 9 mm long, elongated, blunt and glabrous to wire-haired on the edge. The inner bracts are 1 to 1.3 cm long, lanceolate, pointed, membranous and mostly purple. The 20 to 35 daisies - enlarged rim of the bowl located florets - show a yellow coloration, the tongues measure (6 bis) 10 mm to 15 °. The disk florets - radially symmetrical tubular florets located in the center of the head - are brown in color and measure 6 to 8 mm. The ray flowers are about twice as long as the envelope (head measured without ray flowers). The anthers are tailed at the bottom. The achenes are 2 to 3 mm long and have a downy, downy hair. The 6 to 8 mm long, whitish pappus consists of about 35 roughly the same length, rough bristles that are somewhat overgrown at the base.

The flowering period extends from July to August, in Central European gardens from June to July.

Distribution and location

The dwarf elephant is native to the eastern half of Anatolia as well as in the western Transcaucasia in Georgia , Armenia and in the Azerbaijani enclave of Nakhichevan .

He colonized there mainly damp rocks and mountain slopes with springs. It can be found in its growing areas at altitudes of 1350 to 3600 meters.

Systematics

The name Inula acaulis was first published by Heinrich Wilhelm Schott and Theodor Kotschy in 1860 as nomen nudum , i.e. without a description and therefore invalid. A valid first description was made in 1875 by Pierre Edmond Boissier . The specific epithet acaulis means stemless.

The dwarf elephant can be divided into two varieties:

Inula acaulis Boiss. var. acaulis : The stems are only up to 5 cm high, the heads are almost basal. The basal leaves are grouped in dense rosettes. Stem leaves are missing.
Inula acaulis var. Caulescens Nábělek (Syn. Inula hakkiarica Nábělek ): The stems reach heights of 6 to 20 cm. The basal rosettes are little developed. Stem leaves are present, getting smaller towards the top.

use

It is well-suited as an ornamental plant in rock gardens . It prefers sunny and moist locations that are well drained and fresh. The soils should be pH neutral. The dwarf elephant is considered frost hardy. Winter protection is still recommended. The propagation takes place via sowing and division.

Individual evidence

↑ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j ^k ^l ^m ⁿ ^o A. JC Grierson: Inula. In: Peter Hadland Davis (Ed.): Flora of Turkey and the East Aegean Islands. Vol. 5 (Compositae) . Edinburgh University Press, Edinburgh 1975, ISBN 0-85224-280-8 , pp. 63-64 .
↑ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j ^k Eckehart J. Jäger, Friedrich Ebel, Peter Hanelt, Gerd K. Müller (eds.): Excursion flora from Germany . Founded by Werner Rothmaler. tape 5 : Herbaceous ornamental and useful plants . Springer, Spektrum Akademischer Verlag, Berlin / Heidelberg 2008, ISBN 978-3-8274-0918-8 , pp. 548, 580 .
^ Werner Greuter : Compositae (pro parte majore): Inula acaulis . In: Werner Greuter, Eckhard von Raab-Straube (ed.): Compositae. Euro + Med Plantbase - the information resource for Euro-Mediterranean plant diversity. Berlin (2006-2009)
^ P. de Tchihatcheff: Asie Mineure: description physique, statistique et archéologique de cette contrée. Troisième partie: Botanique II. Gide, Paris 1860, p. 243 digitized .
↑ Pierre Edmond Boissier : Flora orientalis sive Enumeratio plantarum in Oriente a Graecia et Aegypto ad Indiae fines hucusque observatarum. Volume 3, 1875, H. Georg, Geneva, Basel, p. 195, digitized .

Web links

[FT5-1] ↑ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j ^k ^l ^m ⁿ ^o A. JC Grierson: Inula. In: Peter Hadland Davis (Ed.): Flora of Turkey and the East Aegean Islands. Vol. 5 (Compositae) . Edinburgh University Press, Edinburgh 1975, ISBN 0-85224-280-8 , pp. 63-64 .

[Rothmaler_5-2] ↑ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j ^k Eckehart J. Jäger, Friedrich Ebel, Peter Hanelt, Gerd K. Müller (eds.): Excursion flora from Germany . Founded by Werner Rothmaler. tape 5 : Herbaceous ornamental and useful plants . Springer, Spektrum Akademischer Verlag, Berlin / Heidelberg 2008, ISBN 978-3-8274-0918-8 , pp. 548, 580 .

[EuroMed-3] Werner Greuter : Compositae (pro parte majore): Inula acaulis . In: Werner Greuter, Eckhard von Raab-Straube (ed.): Compositae. Euro + Med Plantbase - the information resource for Euro-Mediterranean plant diversity. Berlin (2006-2009)

[Tchihatcheff-4] P. de Tchihatcheff: Asie Mineure: description physique, statistique et archéologique de cette contrée. Troisième partie: Botanique II. Gide, Paris 1860, p. 243 digitized .

[Flora_Orientalis-5] Pierre Edmond Boissier : Flora orientalis sive Enumeratio plantarum in Oriente a Graecia et Aegypto ad Indiae fines hucusque observatarum. Volume 3, 1875, H. Georg, Geneva, Basel, p. 195, digitized .