Oenothera biennis

Common Evening Primrose (Oenothera biennis )

The Common Evening Primrose (Oenothera biennis ), also referred to as Common Evening Primrose, is a species of the genus of evening primrose (Oenothera ) within the family Onagraceae ( Onagraceae ). It is one of Central Europe's naturalized neophytes, since it was introduced in 1620 as an ornamental plant from North America to Europe. She is now so widely used in Europe, that it is perceived by most people as a native species.

• 2.1 flowers Ecology
• 2.2 Pollination
• 2.3 The spread of seeds

• 6.1 Use as food
• 6.2 Use as a medicinal plant
• 6.3 use in cosmetics

• 8.1 Notes and references

Description

Appearance and leaf

The Common evening primrose is a biennial herbaceous plant that plant height of 0.8 to 1.8, reaching up to 2 meters in ideal location. It forms the first year of a lying on the ground rosette of fleshy taproot. In the second year it rises a green or reddish instantaneous water in the lower section, ungetupfter stems, this is simple or sparsely branched and densely pubescent to sparse.

The undergraduate and alternate distributed on the stem standing leaves are sessile or short-stalked and light to medium green. The leaf blades of the basal leaves are 10 to 30 inches long and usually 2-5 inches wide. The leaf blades of the stem leaves are narrow - lanceolate to elliptic wrong with pointed or sharply pointed Spreitenbasis and pointed upper end at a length of 5 to 22 inches and a width of usually 1.5 to 5 ( 1-6 ) cm. The edge of the stem leaves incised to almost smooth, often lobed near the Spreitenbasis. There are a red midrib and lateral nerves indistinct available.

Inflorescence and flower

In a mostly unbranched, thick, aged men inflorescence on a straight, glandular hairy inflorescence axis many flowers are borne. In the armpit of a supporting sheet each sits a flower. The flower buds are green.

The hermaphrodite flowers are radial symmetry and cruciform double perianth. The flower cup ( hypanthium ) is rare 2 to, usually 2.5 to 4 inches long. On it are the sepals and petals. The four green to yellow more or less, rarely more or less red sepals are usually 1.2 to 2.2, rarely grown up to 2.8 inches long and the downwardly curved sepals are 1.5 to 3 millimeters long. The four petals are usually 1.2 to 2.5, rarely up to 3 inches long and 2.4 to 3.5 inches wide. The petals are deep yellow and discolored when wither orange. There are two circles, each with four stamens present. The anthers are usually 3-6, rarely up to 9 millimeters long. Deep down in the narrow flower cups is the vierfächerige, under constant, hairy ovary. The several inches long (similar in length to the stamens ) stylus ends in four scars.

Fruit and seeds

The young fruit is covered with glandular hairs and pointy hair. The fitting, fruit lokulizide capsule is cylindrical with a length of 2 to 4 centimeters and a diameter of 4 to 6 mm and more or less straight. The seeds are available in two rows per fruit tray. The 1.1 to 2 millimeters in size, angular seeds have a brown to almost black and irregularly textured surface.

Set of chromosomes

The basic chromosome number is n = 7; it lies in front of diploidy, ie 2n = 14

Ecology

In the Commons Evening Primrose is a hemicryptophytes.

Flowers Ecology

The heyday of Commons, evening primrose begins in Central Europe in early June and can continue with good location and weather conditions until the end of September, in China, it ranges from July to October. The individual flowers are very short-lived. They open at dusk and are mostly faded until noon the next day. The exact date on which open the flowers is dependent on Sun, daily temperature and humidity. In the Commons Evening Primrose is against self- compatibility and autogamy.

The opening of the flowers is often done within a few minutes in one fluid motion. The suddenness and rapidity of flowering is otherwise observed in any other occurring in Central Europe plant. It is therefore in the Botanical gardens and school gardens, a demonstration plant occasionally used. A blooming flowers is still usually odorless. Only after complete opening it spreads an intense sweet fragrance which is sometimes perceived as intrusive and almost fetid. The scars are available at the flower entrance to pollinating insects.

Pollination

When opening the " stem plate bloom " first dusting the mature anther, which is why the flower is called vormännlich. The about 50% fertile pollen grains are matted together over Viscinfäden and thereby remain hanging light in her hair or dress at the probes of insects. Only when the dust bag were emptied, mature scars. These are immediately after opening flowers close together and unfold over the course of the opening of the flower. Nectar for pollinating insects is secreted at the base of the calyx tube by a smooth, yellow honey gland, which lies above the ovary. The flower juice flows due to the horizontal position of the flower to the exit, where it sticks to the resting pen.

Pollination is in summer about 30 minutes after opening the flowers mainly by moths of the family of enthusiasts, including Taubenschwänzchen ( tagaktiv! ) and Middle wine enthusiast, the most common in Central Europe Schwärmerart. An in Central Europe rather rare moth is called evening primrose moth because of his fondness for the nectar of this plant.

The moths you can occasionally observe how they stand in front of one of the flowers in Schwirrflug. Upon insertion of the proboscis they touch the anthers of the flower. The scars are initially moved away due to a sideways movement of the stylus in the direction of access to the nectar. Half an hour after opening of the flower stretches even the stylus. His scars branches splay apart and it can now be pollinated by later arriving insects.

By day ask yourself lured by the bright yellow color of the petals with the invisible to humans juice bar painting, bees and bumblebees also langrüsselige and butterflies in. Occasionally you can find on the leaves of Commons, evening primrose also up to eight inches long caterpillar of the Middle wine enthusiast with the characteristic crescent-shaped and white -rimmed eye patch. These usually specialized in fireweed bead can also Common evening primrose use as food plant.

The propagation of seeds

Since each main or side engine can produce up to 120 flowers, the Common evening primrose is very strong propagation.

In China, the fruits ripen from July to November. At maturity, the four compartments of the fruit capsule tear along the back seam as a result of dehydration from the top down to the middle.

Each seed capsule contains up to 200 seeds. The triangular seeds have a membranous edge of wing. As a spread strategy, the Common evening primrose uses the so-called Semachorie that Ausstreuung by wind movement or the movement of the plant by animals. The only one thousandth of a gram seeds are spread by movement of the vertically oriented capsule fruits. Subsequently, they are using their Flügelsaums spread as a pilot by the wind (called Meteorochorie ).

Dissemination

The original homeland of Commons Evening Primrose is the eastern and central North America.

The Common Evening Primrose Evening Primrose was similar to other species in the 17th century as an ornamental plant introduced to Europe and other temperate regions of the world ( so-called Ethelochorie ). Due to its late introduction to Europe, she is one of the hemerochoren neophytes. Already for the year 1623 its cultivation near Paris is occupied. In 1660 it was planted in Altdorf and 1668 in Halle and fl called Lysimachia virginina major amplo. As a pure ornamental plant found already widespread. After they had discovered that their roots and leaves were edible, they built this way in many places in the kitchen gardens as vegetables. As a refugee garden this plant feral very quickly. Since 1766 they are described in Brandenburg as a weed. Hybridizations with other evening primrose species have led to a large number of distinct small species difficult. Its present distribution it owes most of unwanted carryover (called agochore propagation ), as their seeds often come with the cargo. In many temperate areas of the world Oenothera biennis is a neophyte.

As the site the Common evening primrose needs a dry, non- nutritious, but calcareous soil as possible. Across Europe, the Middle East and East Asia it is found in so-called Ruderalplätzen as roadsides, gravel and sand pits, quarries and gravel banks. Because of their distribution along the railway lines it is sometimes referred to as "railway plant".

Etymology

Other common names are night flower, yellow nightshade, night primrose, egg flower, Yellow Rapunzel, Härekraut, Rapontika, beet root, cabbage ham, ham Wurz, Proud Heinrich, wine flower or herb wine and cough flower.

Carl Linnaeus in 1753 published the currently accepted botanical genus name Oenothera, the oinos οῖνος from the Greek words for " wine " and ther θήρ for " animal " derives. Previously named Oenothera ancient and medieval authors such as Pliny the Elder and Paracelsus probably also belonging to the family Onagraceae fireweed (Epilobium ) denotes ( the North American species of evening primrose could not know it ). They were of the opinion that plant parts of these species in wine, the people enjoyed cheerful and wild animals do gently. The specific epithet refers to the biennis Zweijährigkeit of Oenothera biennis.

System

The first publication of Oenothera biennis was made in 1753 by Carl Linnaeus in Species Plantarum, 1, p are 346 synonyms for Oenothera biennis L.: Oenothera muricata L., Oenothera suaveolens Desf, Onagra biennis (L.) Scop, Onagra muricata. . (L. ) Moench

Oenothera biennis Oenothera belongs to the subsection of the section in the genus Oenothera Evening Primrose | Oenothera.

In the botanical systematics usually are 13 small species to species group or collective species Oenothera biennis agg. (Aggregate = sample type ), as none of these are very closely related, very similar to each other and are therefore difficult to distinguish. With them is artgewordene hybrids which remain hereditary constant by means of a specific cytogenetic mechanism ( Komplexheterozygotie ).

The group of species Oenothera biennis agg. includes: Oenothera biennis L., Oenothera canovirens ESSteele, Oenothera carinthiaca Rostanski, Oenothera deflexa RRGates, Oenothera erythrosepala ( Borbás ) Borbás, Oenothera fallax Renner ex Rostanski, Oenothera heiniana Teyber, Oenothera hoelscheri Renner & Rostanski, Oenothera pycnocarpa GFAtk. & Bartlett, Oenothera rubricaulis adhesives. , Oenothera salicifolia Desf. ex Ser. , Oenothera suaveolens Desf. , Oenothera wienii Renner ex Rostanski.

Use

Use as a food

In the vernacular, the evening primrose is also known as " ham -root " because discolor their roots during cooking reddish. Their wide distribution in Europe is mainly due to their in the 18th century and 19th century, frequent cultivation as a vegetable. Old proverbs claimed that a pound of evening primrose root as much force as give a hundredweight of beef. Therefore, the Common Evening Primrose is still one of the typical plant species of the cottage garden, even if it is cultivated only as ornamental plant.

In addition to the fleshy tap roots and the leaves, flowers and seeds are edible. The roots boiled as salsify or parsnips in broth; they are occasionally also be sliced ​​and dressed with oil and vinegar. Are harvested, the roots in the autumn of the first year ( rosette stage ) until spring. In the modern kitchen, the petals are sometimes used as edible decoration.

In some regions, such as in Masuria you used the roots and leaves are used to feed pigs.

Use as a medicinal plant

Even the North American Indians used the Common evening primrose as a medicinal plant.

In natural medicine today, especially the evening primrose oil has a meaning. This oil extracted from the seeds is used for the treatment and symptomatic relief of eczema internally. It contains large amounts of linoleic acid which is converted in the human body to gamma- linolenic acid. From it, the body forms over any intermediate steps prostaglandin E1. Due to a lack of enzymatic activity of delta -6 -desaturase is to consist in atopic dermatitis is a lack of gamma -linolenic acid. The gamma -linolenic acid contained in evening primrose oil in a concentration of between 8 to 14 % enables the production of the anti-inflammatory effect increased prostaglandin E1 without delta-6- desaturase -mediated conversion of cis- linoleic acid to gamma -linolenic acid. Because evening primrose oil is very expensive, is used increasingly as a substitute hemp oil.

After a meta-analysis of 27 studies on the effectiveness of evening primrose oil, the Cochrane Collaboration in 2013 is, however, the final evaluation that both evening primrose oil as well which also gamma -linolenic acid - rich borage oil when taken orally has a zero- extends beyond a placebo effect effect.

Use in cosmetics

Evening primrose oil is due to its effects also use as an active ingredient and additive in cosmetics, especially in skin creams. The ingredients work here reassuring especially in lovely sensitive skin and can be used pharmaceutically accordingly, especially in dry, scaly and itchy skin.

Cultivation

To obtain the evening primrose oil evening primrose which can be grown in one - and two-year agricultural culture. In a year of cultivation, the sowing is done in the first half of April, with a two-year culture period the fine seeds are sown in midsummer flat. The nutrient requirements of the evening primrose are low. However, diseases ( Septoria, downy mildew ) and pests ( Nachtkerzenlaus, flea beetle, bird feeding on bolls) can affect the harvest.

As for breeding highly processed plant species typical, the seeds ripen unevenly. If three -quarters of the fruit capsule brown colored, is harvested with the combine. Since the seeds are stored very dry ( the water content in the seed must not exceed 9 percent), joins the cleaning of seed drying on. In a two-year culture period is the seed yield 6-13 quintals per hectare in organic farming is expected to 3-7 quintals. The oil content of the seed is between 20 to 30 percent.

In the 1990s, the evening primrose has been grown experimentally default. Currently in Germany build individual farmers primrose field at moderate to market the oil directly.

Swell

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• Azim Ghasemnezhad: Investigations on the effects of harvest methods and storage conditions on yield, quality and germination of evening primrose (Oenothera biennis L.) seeds. PhD thesis, University of Giessen, 2007 ( full text )
• Behind Helmut Meier: The night candle. Beauty of Virginia. In: The bee - Nationwide magazine for beekeepers. ISSN 0006- 212X. Berlin, 134 vintage, 1998, p 12
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• Angelika Lüttig, Juliane box: Rosehip & Co - flowers, fruits and propagation of European plants. Fauna, Nottuln 2003, ISBN 3-935980-90-6.
• Common evening primrose. In: FloraWeb.de. (Sections Description and ecology)