Orthilia

Birngrün ( Orthilia secunda )

Called The Birngrün ( Orthilia secunda ), and Nick end of wintergreen or wintergreen Einseitswendiges, is quite a rare species from the subfamily of wintergreen and spruce asparagus plants ( Monotropoideae ) within the family Ericaceae ( Ericaceae ). The genus is monotypic Orthilia - it consists only of Orthilia secunda. Synonyms are Ramischia secunda and Pyrola secunda.

Features

The perennial, woody plant is seven to 15 ( 25) inches high and forms a branched rhizome, so the shoots usually grow clonally - in troops. The evergreen leaves are not down - arranged in rosettes, but away they - as in Pyrola species. They are lanceolate to ovate acuminate, bright green and weakly cut on the edge. Thus they are somewhat reminiscent of the leaves of pear trees ( German name ).

The inflorescence is a einseitswendige, Vielblütige cluster with at first nodding, bell-shaped to hemispherical, greenish- white flowers. The stylus is longer than the ovary and protrude clearly from the corollas.

The flowering period extends from June to July. Birngrün uses the insect pollination.

Like all evergreen plants survived the kind in symbiosis with a root fungus ( mycorrhiza ). This surrounds the roots with a dense mycelium coat and supplies the plant with water and mineral salts while the fungus receives carbohydrates vice versa. Also for the seedling development mycorrhizal crucial seems to be.

Occurrence

The Birngrün growing in moss and lichen-rich spruce, fir and pine forests, in Luzulo beech forests and beech- oak forests, clay pits and quarries. It prefers doing moderately dry to fresh, nutrient-poor, acidic soils to base rich, musty - humic sandy and loamy soils and shady places. A socialization with others, but sometimes even rarer wintergreen plants, such as the Grünblütigen wintergreen ( Pyrola chlorantha ), the moss eye ( Moneses uniflora ), the umbels umbellata ( Chimaphila umbellata ) or with the spruce asparagus ( Monotropa hypopitys ), can be observed.

The style is Nordic- Eurasian- continental spread. In Germany, the western border of their range runs. Birngrün therefore largely missing in the northwest German lowlands; the northeastern German lowlands are inhabited sporadically. In the south, the deposits are concentrated more on mountain regions ( in Austria up to altitudes of 2300 m). Anthropogenic landscape changes, perhaps most notably by the areal eutrophication through the air, but also by forestry activities, the holdings of the Birngrüns have fallen sharply. The excessive nutrient input causes a succession of plant societies. The most typical for Orthilia and other winter green plants and lichens Hager Moss pine forests convert, this is in Drahtschmielen pine forests. From the propagating wavy ( Deschampsia flexuosa ), a forest grass are the Pyrolaceae apparently gradually displaced. Later provide a more nutrient- pointing types.