Acanthus (plant)
Acanthus montanus
Acanthus (Acanthus ) is a genus of flowering plants in the family of Acanthaceae ( Acanthaceae ), which contains about 30 species. Acanthus is also called hogweed, is not to be confused with giant hogweed ( Heracleum ).
Description
The genus includes herbaceous plants and a few half- shrubs. The opposite, stalked leaves are lobed or toothed and usually thorny.
The terminal, different polymorphic inflorescences are 40 cm to 2 m high. Under each single flower is a spike- armored, fransiges bract which often includes the collar-like bloom. The support sheet and the sepals are often purple. The hermaphrodite flowers are three - or fourfold. The four sepals are unequal in length and grow together. The petals are fused two-lipped tubular; their color varies in most species from white to pink. Yellow ( Acanthus hirsutus ), blue and scharlachrotblühende types also occur. It's just a circle with four stamens present, they can be mutually free or fused. Two carpels are fused into a superior ovaries. Pollination is by insects ( entomophily ).
Two or four seeds ripen in zweifächerigen capsule fruits. The septum flap throw away the seeds when the capsule breaks open fully ripe.
In addition to the propagation by seed, vegetative propagation by rhizomes plays a major role in many species of this genus. Some species, for example, True hogweed (Acanthus mollis ) can thus form dense populations with strong Horsten.
Dissemination
The acanthus species are native from the tropical to the hot -tempered regions of the Old World with the greatest diversity in the Mediterranean region and Asia.
Use
Some species, particularly Acanthus spinosus Acanthus mollis and are used as ornamental plants.
The foliage is the presentation of the acanthus ornament.
System
The first publication of Acanthus was made by Carl Linnaeus. The genus name is derived from the ancient Greek Acanthus Acanthus ( ὁ ἄκανθος " the Thorny ") with a Latinized suffix from. A synonym for Acanthus L. Cheilopsis Moq .. The genus Acanthus belongs to the tribe Acantheae in the subfamily Acanthoideae within the family Acanthaceae.
Selected species:
- Acanthus arboreus Forssk. Occurrence in Egypt.
- Acanthus dioscoridis L.
- Acanthus eminens C.B.Clarke
- Acanthus hirsutus Boiss.
- Acanthus hungaricus ( Borbás ) Baenitz, Syn: Acanthus balcanicus Heywood & I.Richardson, Acanthus longifolius host
- Acanthus ilicifolius L.
- True acanthus (Acanthus mollis L.)
- Acanthus montanus T.Anderson: native to the mountainous regions of West Africa.
- Acanthus polystachyus Delile ( Syn: Acanthus pubescens Engl )
- Acanthus spinosus L.
- Acanthus syriacus Boiss.