Asphodelus ramosus

Branched asphodel ( Asphodelus ramosus )

The branchy asphodel ( Asphodelus ramosus ), which is also often called Kleinfrüchtiger asphodel, is a species of the genus asphodel ( asphodel ) from the subfamily of Asphodelus ( Asphodeloideae ) in the family of grass tree plants ( Xanthorrhoeaceae ).

Description

The branchy asphodel is achieved meters a bald, perennial rhizomatous Geophyt, the plant height of 1 to 1.5 (rarely 2). The rhizome is short and thick and covered with abundant fibers withered leaves. The roots are spindle-shaped tubers thickened more or less far from the rhizome.

The up to 1 meter long and 1-4 cm wide leaves are arranged in a basal rosette, erect, stiff and keeled. The stalk is leafless, solid and carries an inflorescence with 3 to 10 ( to 13) - projecting upright, 10 to 30 ( to 45) cm long, unbranched lateral branches.

The bracts of the flowers are trockenhäutig or whitish or brownish. The flower stalks are divided in the center and diagonally straddling the fruit time and 0.8 to 1 ( to 1.3 ) mm thick. The bloom in length (10 to ) 11 to 18 ( to 21 ) mm and are white with a pink or brownish midrib. The stamens are suddenly narrowed by the thickened base to the tip.

The capsules are 5 to 13 mm long, 3.5 to 10 ( to 11 ) mm wide, ovate and wrapped tightly of the dried bloom cladding. The seeds measure 5 to 8.5 × 2.5 to 4 millimeters and are gray.

The flowering season lasts from March to June.

Dissemination

The branchy asphodel is a characteristic, widespread and frequent plant of the Mediterranean region, which extends to the Canary Islands.

It occurs in verlichteten forests and maquis, in Garrigues and in steppes and preferred base- rich, rocky, loamy or sandy, sufficiently deep soils. He settled altitudes from about 0 to 1000 meters, in the North African high mountains to 2150 meters. Especially on intensive grazing it forms dense stands, because it is not eaten because of its poisonous ingredients from grazing livestock.

System

The branchy asphodel is divided into two subspecies.

• Asphodel ramosus subsp. distalis Z.Díaz & Valdés: The roots are thickened only at a distance from the rhizome of usually 8 to 12 inches to tubers and are about the same thickness as behind the tubers in the play before the tubers. The leaves are bright green. The reason of the stamen is pale pink. The bloom (13 to) 14 to 21 millimeters in length, 7.5 to 13 mm, the capsules, the seed 6 to 7.5 mm. This clan replaced the nominotypical subspecies in the southwest of the Iberian Peninsula and the Canary Islands. It is hexaploid with 2n = 84 chromosomes.
• Asphodel ramosus L. subsp. ramosus: The roots are thickened into tubers in a very short distance from the rhizome and are much thicker than behind the tubers in the play before the tubers. The leaves are blue-green. The reason of the stamens is brownish pink.

• Var ramosus: The capsules measure only 5.5 to 7.5 × 4-7 mm and are ellipsoid to ovoid. The seeds measure 5 to 6 × 1.8 to 2.5 millimeters. The size of the bloom in the lower part of the range of variation of the Art This variety is widely distributed; it is almost exclusively occurring clan on the north side of the Mediterranean, with the exception of the warmest regions such as Malta, Sicily or South Sardinia. The variety is diploid with 2n = 28 chromosomes.
• Var africanus ( Jordan ) Z.Díaz & Valdés: The capsules measure 7 to 9.5 × 5-8 mm, and are ovoid - ellipsoid to ovoid. The seeds measure 5.5 to 6.5 x 2.5 to 3 millimeters. The size of the bloom is located in the central part of the range of variation of the Art This variety is widespread in the Mediterranean North Africa and the Middle East. You reached Europe in Malta, Lampedusa, Sicily, southern Sardinia and Southern Italy. The variety is tetraploid with 2n = 56 chromosomes.
• Var nervosus ( Pomel ) Z.Díaz & Valdés: The capsules measure 9 to 12 × 7 to 9.5 millimeters and are globose to ovoid, almost. The seeds measure 6.5 to 8.5 × 3-4 mm. The size of the bloom is in the upper part of the range of variation of the Art This variety comes from North Africa, from Morocco (where the most common to almost exclusively occurring clan ) prior to Libya; it reaches Europe on Lampedusa and on the south coast of the Peloponnese. The variety is hexaploid with 2n = 84 chromosomes.

Botanical history

Asphodel ramosus was first described in 1753 by Carl Linnaeus in Species Plantarum. Of the six phrases that make up the protologue, only the first ( a quote from the materia medica ) is demonstrably supported by herbarium material. This document designed & Valdés Díaz Lifante established in 1994 as lectotype. It can be clearly identified as frequent Mediterranean, small-fruited clan. Therefore, this name has priority over the name until 1824 introduced asphodel microcarpus Viv.

This name was still mostly given preference in the sequence, because the name asphodel ramosus was considered ambiguous and has not been used by authors result in a uniform sense. A slightly older name, asphodel aestivus bread. (1804 ) was placed as a synonym of asphodel microcarpus in the middle of the 19th century and later used instead of priority reasons. However Brotero understood by asphodel aestivus another late flowering species with spherical capsules whose rhizome also has no shell of dried leaf residues.

The version of " asphodel ramosus " in the Flora Europaea (1980 ), in which this taxon of asphodel was aestivus (in the sense of A. ramosus L.) separated mainly by the larger capsules, containing by the monograph by Díaz Lifante & Valdés tetra-and hexaploid plants of asphodel ramosus and as separate species taxa regarded as asphodel asphodel cerasiferus and lusitanicus.

Trivial names

In the German-speaking area or have been for the Ästigen asphodel and the white asphodel ( Asphodelus albus ), which were not distinguished, some only regionally, also related the following additional Common names: asphodels ( Middle High German ), Afholzerwurz ( Middle High German ), Aphrodillenwurz ( Middle High German ), Colder ( middle High German ), Gelwurz, Golde ( Old High German ), gold Gilgen, gold Hilgen ( middle High German ), Goldkruyt ( middle High German ), gold Wurz ( middle High German ), Golteck ( middle High German ), Königsscepter, whip Stock, Wickol ( middle High German ), Wijswurtz ( middle High German ) and Witlock ( middle High German ).