Gagea villosa

Acker Yellow Star ( Gagea villosa )

The field - star yellow ( Gagea villosa ), also called field -gold star, belongs to the genus yellow stars ( Gagea ) in the lily family ( Liliaceae ).

Description of the plant

The field - Yellow Star is a perennial herbaceous plant that blooms in early spring - usually a few days before the meadow yellow star. In Central Europe the kind usually begins in mid-March to mid-April to bloom. The field - yellow star reaches heights of growth of about 8 to 15 cm. He has two undergraduate leaves that are flat ruler, often almost filiform, and may be up to 4 mm wide. The blade cross-section is usually on the upper side only flat rinnig ( in contrast to the meadow yellow star ). The stem bears two almost opposite permanent bracts near the umbel-like inflorescence with often more than ten flowers.

The sulfur- yellow flowers are smaller than 4 cm, its up to ten tepals are pointed towards the end. Pen, petals and also the flower stem are slightly hairy, what comes in the Latin species name expressed.

Ecology

The field - Yellow Star is a Geophyt, his vorweiblichen flowers are pollinated by insects.

Occurrence

The distribution of the field - star yellow extends across Central, Northern, Eastern and Southern Europe and to North Africa and West Asia. In Central Europe it is found in social fields, at field margins, in vineyards and grazing on grassland in premolars places. The species prefers rich, loose soil tolerates both calcareous and lime- spoken aloud basics, and grows especially on sandy or stony fields in climatically favored areas. In the mountains, it rises to almost 1500 m. After Ellenberg the arable yellow star is a heat indicator, intermediate continental spread, moderately nitrogen-rich sites and preferring a Ordnungscharakterart nutrient-rich arable and garden Beikrautfluren ( Polygono - Chenopodietalia ).

With the use of chemical weedkillers the arable yellow star has been almost everywhere displaced from such cultivated land. If anything, he comes here on the border of farmland against Magerrasen by or in specialty crops, which do not allow a weed control on growth substance basis.

In Germany you will find the field - star yellow rare in the south, this species is distributed more frequently than in the north.

In Austria the arable yellow star in the Pannonian region often occurs to scattered, otherwise rarely. The deposits extend to the provinces of Vienna, Lower Austria, Burgenland and Styria.

Risk / protective

The species is endangered in Germany and is on the red list of endangered species (Category 3: endangered).

Related species

Related species are the meadows yellow star, the forest - Yellow Star, the vaginal yellow star and the little yellow star.