Gentiana asclepiadea

Willow Gentian (Gentiana asclepiadea )

The Willow Gentian (Gentiana asclepiadea ) is a species of the genus gentian ( Gentiana ).

Name

The German trivial name Willow Gentian refers to the similarity with the swallow-wort ( Vincetoxicum hirundinaria ), whose leaves are also arranged in decussate.

Other common names are Blue Cross Wurz after the decussate leaves, Geißleitern by the ladder-shaped shade leaves, autumn gentian and Stag belling gentian after its late heyday.

Description

The Willow Gentian grows as a perennial herbaceous plant, reaching heights of growth between 30 and 100 centimeters. There are several trained upright to overhanging, multiflorous stems. The stems are leafy simple and dense, evenly. The decussate leaves are arranged allseitswendig depending on the location in the shadow einseitswendig and open, light points. The lanceolate leaves are entire, and are, from top to bottom less abusive, 4-8 inches long. You have three to five distinct longitudinal veins and in between are annoying network.

The hermaphrodite flowers are about 35 to 50 millimeters in size and sit up to third in the upper leaf axils. The membranous calyx -tube and has 5 very short and thin strips. The dark - azure, closely - bell-shaped crown is from the outside a dark blue color, the inside is red-violet dotted with mostly light blue stripes.

The flowering period extends from August to October. Because of the late flowering time, the self-pollination plays a major role in this type, where the scars tongues as far back roll that they come in contact with the lower anthers.

Occurrence

The distribution area of Willow Gentian includes the mountains of central and southern Europe. In the Alps, in the edge of the Alps quite often scattered in the inner Alps. In the German Alpine foothills the incidence reaches at least to the district of Starnberg.

The Willow Gentian thrives in high altitudes of the valley to about 2,200 meters. As the site preferably, these lime-loving plant wet meadows, fens, forest edges, reed beds, tall herbaceous corridors and Legföhrengebüsche.

Synecology

The hermaphrodite flowers of the milkweed - gentian are vormännlich, that is, that the pollen is emptied through the dust bag before maturation of the scar. A temporal overlap of these two stages is, however, not yet been clarified in the discussion. The Willow Gentian offers nectar and is pollinated primarily by bees and bumblebees. Even comes from self -pollination.

On the Willow Gentian as fodder plant the caterpillars of the highly endangered marsh gentian Blue butterfly are oligophagous ( Maculinea alcon ) and the gentian -Alps- blade tensioner ( Perizoma obsoletata ) dependent

Threats and conservation

The Willow Gentian applicable in Germany as endangered. The intensive grazing of fresh and wet meadows mainly contributes to this. Also the Willow Gentian is very popular with collectors, which also has a negative impact on the stock situation.

Curative effect

All plant parts of Willow Gentian, especially the " rhizome ", contains, like all types of gentian bitter glycosides and the drug has been used medicinally. In folk medicine still wrote him healing power against rabies and used him in dog bite ( Bitzwurzen ) in veterinary medicine as a remedy for claw diseases ( Kloawurz ).

Pictures

Flowers of the page

Gentiana alba var asclepiadea

Inflorescence