Legousia speculum-veneris

Venus woman mirror ( speculum - veneris Legousia )

Called The Venus woman mirror ( speculum - veneris Legousia ), also Big Venus mirror or mirror Ordinary woman, is a member of the bellflower family ( Campanulaceae ). It flowers from June to August.

Appearance

The annual herbaceous plant reaches a height of 10 to 40 cm. It is erect to decumbent, branched and mostly bare. The lower leaves are stalked and obovate, the upper are broad - lanceolate and sessile. They are 1-3 cm long, entire or serrated wavy. The flowers are stalked and sit in terminal and lateral, few-flowered racemes or grapes. The crown is expanded and has a diameter of about 2 to 2.5 cm. She is almost split down to the ground, stained dark purple and bright outside. It has five broad, short- pointed tip. These are as long or longer than the sepals. These are intended for fruit production. The sepals are narrow - linear and pointed. The fruit is from 1 to 1.5 cm long.

Ecology

The flowers are strictly vormännliche, blue-violet " flower stem plate " with a central white Saftmal. There is a rich production of nectar. Noteworthy are the periodic closing movements: The flowers open in the morning and close late in the afternoon. Spontaneous self-pollination is not uncommon; occasionally cleistogamy takes place. As pollinators Diptera were observed. Bloom time is from June to August.

The fruit is a below the top 3- klappig open pores capsule. The lightweight hard-shelled seeds are wind - and animal spreaders, grain flyer; done to a people spread synanthropic. Fruit ripening from September.

Dissemination

Habitat requirements

The Venus woman mirror grows partly unstable in cornfields, on summer warm, moderately - fresh, nutritious and calcareous, calcareous loam and clay soils. Not infrequently encountered, he is also in fields and in vineyards. He rooted up to 15 cm deep and is light -loving.

Popularization

Legousia speculum - veneris comes from before Southern to Central Europe. East to west Asia and south to North Africa. It is a sub-Mediterranean - Mediterranean Florenelement. In Austria, the species is scattered to rarely occurring, in Switzerland it is to locate generally scattered.

Distribution in Germany

The Venus Ms. Spiegel takes Germany to the west and south, scattered before. He lacks, among other things in the Alps and is locate abducted occasionally in the rest area.

Distribution in Switzerland

In Switzerland, the Venus woman mirror, especially in the Central Plateau and the Jura occurs in the Alps, however, only very sporadically.

Species protection

Hazard in Germany and Switzerland: Category 3: to be avoided!