Galax

Bronze leaf ( Galax urceolata )

The bronze sheet ( Galax urceolata ) is the only species in the genus Galax in the family of Diapensiaceae.

Features

The bronze leaf is an evergreen, perennial, herbaceous plant that reaches the plant height of 20 to 45 centimeters. They form dense mats of branched rhizomes with scaly bracts. The leaves are stalked, the leaf blade circular to broadly ovate with heart-shaped base, 4 to 15 inches wide and cut or notched. From the first night frosts it turns reddish or bronze.

The flowering period extends from June to July. The bare flower stem has a length of 20 to 40 centimeters. The spike- like clusters are 5 to 10 centimeters long, the crown white, the corolla lobes oblong. The stamens and staminodes are nearly identical in and fused to the stamens, which in turn are tubular and grow together in their approach to the petals, with which they also fall. The truncated at its lower end tapering anthers are unicompartmental and open horizontally. The stylus is short.

From the bronze sheet as both diploid tetraploid taxa are known.

Occurrence

The bronze sheet comes in the southeastern U.S. in Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia and Alabama in front of a sparse mountain forests.

Use

The bronze sheet is rarely used as an ornamental plant for Rhododendron stocks and rock gardens. The species is in cultivation since at least 1756.

Documents

  • Eckhart J. Hunter, Friedrich Ebel, Peter Hanelt, Gerd Müller, K. (ed.): Rothmaler Exkursionsflora of Germany. Volume 5: Herbaceous ornamental and useful plants. Spektrum Akademischer Verlag, Berlin Heidelberg 2008, ISBN 978-3-8274-0918-8.
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