Sanicula

Sanicula arctopoides

The plant genus Sanikel ( Sanicula ) belongs to the family of Umbelliferae ( Apiaceae ) and consists of about 37 to 40 species.

Their main distribution has the genus in North America and East Asia. The forest - Sanikel ( Sanicula europaea ) is the only native species in Europe and is considered a tertiary relic.

Description

Vegetative characteristics

Sanikel are low, slender, prostrate or erect biennial or perennial herbaceous plants without hair. They grow branching or upright, straight and unbranched from a short rhizome or directly from spindle-shaped or bulbous roots. The shoot axis is usually branched, the arrangement of the branches is very different.

The leaves are on petioles or almost sessile, are themselves membrane-like thin to almost leathery. They are palmate or pinnate divided up composed several times, the individual leaf parts are different toothed, lobed, divided pinnate or entire. The leaf stem is bare or inspired.

Inflorescences and flowers

The inflorescences consist of simple head-shaped umbels arranged ZyMOS or racemose. The involucre consists of ganzrandigen or lobed bracts, which may be both longer and shorter than the umbels. The umbels are bisexual or unisexual, in which case only male flowers are formed.

The flowers are white, greenish - white, greenish - yellow, yellow, red, purple, blue or purple, are on peduncles or almost sessile. The all-male flowers are often highlighted by striking flower stalks and are falling or stable. The sepals are bristle- shaped, linear - lanceolate or ovate jaded and almost single standing to strongly grow together. At the ripe fruit, the sepals are beaked or obscured by the reinforcement of the fruit. The edge of the spatula-shaped to egg-shaped petals is sinuate, the tip is concentrated and inflected. The stylus is either shorter than the sepals or prolonged, spreading, recurved or screwed. The stylopodium missing or flattened and disc-shaped.

Fruit and seeds

The fruits are oblong- ovate to spherical and laterally flattened somewhat. They are densely covered with spines, spikelets, flakes or nodules. The spines are often wider at the base, or bulbous, straight or provided with a hook. Ribs are only preliminary. The carpel is flattened almost drehrund or laterally or posteriorly. The oil welts can be large or small, are in regular or irregular arrangement. There are three to a variety of oil welts under the dorsal and lateral surface and usually two at the commissure. The seed surface is smooth, concave or wrinkled, amplifying cells are absent.

Types (selection)

The genus Sanicula consists of about 37 to 40 species:

• Sanicula arctopoides Hook. & Arn.
• Sanicula arguta Greene ex Coult. & Rose
• Sanicula astrantiifolia H. Wolff ex Kretzschmer
• Sanicula bipinnata Hook. & Arn.
• Sanicula caerulescens Franch.
• Sanicula canadensis L.
• Sanicula chinensis Bunge
• Sanicula elongata K. T. Fu
• Forest Sanikel ( Sanicula europaea L.)
• Sanicula giraldii H. Wolff
• Sanicula hacquetioides Franch.
• Sanicula lamelligera Hance
• Sanicula marilandica L.
• Sanicula orthacantha S. Moore
• Sanicula oviformis X. T. Liu Z. & Y. Liu
• Sanicula pengshuiensis M. L. Sheh & Z. Y. Liu
• Sanicula petagnioides Hayata
• Sanicula rubriflora F. Schmidt ex Maxim.
• Sanicula rugulosa Diels
• Sanicula serrata H. Wolff
• Sanicula smallii E.P.Bicknell
• Sanicula tienmuensis Sjan & Constance
• Sanicula tuberculata Maxim.
• Sanicula tuberosa Torr.