Asclepias verticillata

Asclepias verticillata

Asclepias verticillata, sometimes called Quirlblättrige Milkweed, is a species of the genus milkweed ( Asclepias ) in the subfamily of the milkweed family ( Asclepiadoideae ). It is widely used in North America.

• 5.1 Notes and references

Description

Vegetative characteristics

Asclepias verticillata grows as a perennial, herbaceous plant, reaching heights of growth from 15 to 90 cm. It forms short, superficial " rhizomes ". The upright, slender, slightly edged stems are unbranched, rarely branched with sterile stems. They are more or less strongly white, hairy fluffy, which descends into lines of the nodes, rarely also bald.

The leaves are rarely opposite, usually three to six leaves arranged in whorls on the stem, hence the epithet verticillata. You are more than very short -stalked and upright spread to or slightly bent back. The membranous mostly bald to tiny fluffy hairy, and simple leaf blade with a length of 1.5 to 7 cm and a width of about 1.5 mm linear, or usually narrow oblong to filiform with smooth, folded leaf margin and a pointed end.

Generative features

The singly or in pairs at the upper nodes ( more nodes ) standing, doldigen inflorescences containing from six to twenty flowers. The slim inflorescence stem has a length of 1.5 to 3 cm. The slender flower stalks have a length of about 6 mm.

The relatively small flowers are hermaphroditic, radial symmetry and fünfzählig. The flower colors range through greenish white to whitish sometimes with a purple tinge. The five sepals are at a length of about 3.5 mm approximately triangular and sparsely hairy to almost glabrous. The turned-back and bare Kronblattzipfel are elliptical with a length of about 3.5 mm. The Gynostegium is short-stalked, the stem columnar with a diameter of about one millimeter. The staminal corona lobes are shaped hood, subquadratisch and about 1.5 mm long. The interstaminalen corona lobes sit basal and are needle-shaped curved. They are about twice as long as the staminal corona lobes and curve gradually over the stylus head. The stylus head is cylindrical, and about 2 mm high; the diameter is somewhat smaller. The flowers remain open 4 to 5 days before they pass away. Nectar is produced primarily between 18 und 22 clock clock.

The upright on erect stems follicles are bald or hairy tiny and thin spindle-shaped with a length of 7 to 10 cm and a diameter of 5 to 8 mm. You. Outside they are gatt and bare. The egg-shaped with a length of about 5 mm seeds have a 2.5 cm long white hair.

Occurrence

Asclepias verticillata comes in the Canadian provinces of Manitoba and Ontario as well as in the U.S. states of Alabama, Arkansas, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Nebraska, New jersey, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Rhode Iceland, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, West Virginia and Wisconsin before.

Asclepias verticillata thrives in dry prairies, on rocky hills, bushland and in open woods, usually in dry soils over limestone and sand dunes. They are also found along roads and fence boundaries. It reproduces not only by seed but also vegetatively. You can not fertilize itself, that is, the copies of a colony of clones are mutually infertile. Main pollinators are wasps and moths, also subordinated native bees and diurnal. Among the new introductions or entrained insects use mainly honey bees and cabbage butterflies, the flowers as nectar source and transfer the pollen packets ( pollinia). There are native wasps known, and also feed their brood during the heyday of Asclepias verticillata almost exclusively from the nectar of flowers.

System

The first publication of Asclepias verticillata was made by Carl Linnaeus in Species Plantarum, Volume 1, 1st Edition, Stockholm 1753, p 217 Asclepias verticillata L. A synonym for is Asclepias parviflora Leconte ex Decne .. The specific epithet verticillata quirlblättrig means that leaves are so arranged in whorls.

Terms and toxicity

Some North American tribes Asclepias verticillata used in folk medicine for snake bites, to treat nose and throat diseases.

Asclepias verticillata is very toxic to livestock, but since it is not like the animals rarely eaten. It can cause problems when fed as Heubestandteil.

Swell

• Robert E. Woodson, Jr.: The North American species of Asclepias L., In: Annals of the Missouri Botanical Garden, Volume 41 (1 ), St. Louis, Mo., 1954, pp. 1-211: URL ( description Asclepias verticillata of p 124-126 )
• Mike Haddock, 2007: Data sheet at Kansas Wildflowers and Grasses. (Section Description, occurrence, folk medicine and toxicity)