Genlisea

Genlisea violacea

The Reuse traps ( Genlisea ) are a genus of carnivorous plants from the family of water hose plants ( Lentibulariaceae ) with 29 species.

  • 5.1 subgenera and species
  • 5.2 phylogenetics
  • 5.3 Genetics

Features

Reuse traps are rootless, rosette-like, annual or perennial herbaceous plants. They are relatively small in diameter from 1 to 5 cm and only a few centimeters high. The majority of the species forms foothills. Overall, the species of the genus differ only slightly from each other.

Two leaf types can be distinguished, namely the above-ground leaves and the underground traps Reuse Sheets ( " Rhizophylle ").

The above-ground leaves of the plants are in a rosette, are bright green and 3-50 mm long. They are usually spatulate, occasionally spatulate - obovate ( means obovate obovate ); its surface is smooth and without visible Vein. In some species such as Genlisea aurea the leaves are covered with a slimy secretion, whose function is still unclear.

The traps are most subterranean leaves, called Rhizophylle, ie outgoing from a rhizome leaves. The plants lure their prey probably by chemical attractants, which are submitted by the Rhizophyllen. When prey is ciliates, nematodes and other small bottom dwellers. But species with larger bubbles capture also flatworms and Little Borster.

The Rhizophylle have the shape of an inverted Wye, the two arms are each twisted like a corkscrew; along the " thread " slit-like openings are distributed. Previously, however, the stem thickens after several millimeters in a bubble that has the function of a digestive organ. Between the threads and the further up the bladder Rhizophyll is hollow and divided into chambers, which are separated by directed hairs. The forward- hairs allow even penetrated through the opening preys only the motion in the direction of the bladder, hence the German name " trap event ". In the bladder and in the rest of the case sit glands that serve the digestion of prey. It is unclear why the dissolved nutrients seep out not back out of the trap; were suspected, among other weak negative pressures that would let the traps such as pumps.

The already suspected by Charles Darwin Karnivorie the genus was definitely occupied until 1998.

Flowers and Fruit

The flower stems rise up to 50 cm in height, as with all carnivores far beyond the plant itself. At its end they carry racemose inflorescences with up to four usually purple or ( in some American species ) yellow, spurred flowers.

The fruits are small round fruit capsules. The way in which the fruits open to release the seeds, the dehiscence, serves as a distinguishing feature of the two subgenera (see below): In contrast, the seed capsules of species of the subgenus Tayloria open along elongated slots in the seed pods of the subgenus Genlisea stands out from the top of the capsule at the end of the spiral slit. In fruits a few small seed are included which are capable of germination for a short time.

Dissemination

Reuse traps are tropical plants; their distribution areas are evenly for an Africa and Madagascar, as well as for other Central and South America. The subgenus Tayloria (see below) is limited in its occurrence in eastern Brazil. None of the species occurs on both continents. Contrary to previous assumptions, this evolutionary separation not due to the drifting apart of the earlier mating continents ( Gondwana theory ), but on subsequent transfer of a parent form from Africa to South America.

Africa

In Africa, ten species are native; the main occurrence is found in the room Zambia, Zimbabwe, Mozambique and Malawi, from where it radiates to Angola and Madagascar. Other small distribution areas exist along the central African coast and in the far West Africa (Guinea, Sierra Leone, Guinea- Bissau, Ivory Coast ). It is interesting to circumvent the mainly determined by rainforests countries in Central Africa (Democratic Republic of Congo, Rwanda, Burundi).

America

The center of the occurrence in America is the north-east of South America, especially Brazil. Of the eleven American species are found there nine, four of them as endemics. In neighboring Venezuela seven species are native, two are endemic. In addition to deposits can be found in Guiana, Colombia, Bolivia and Paraguay to the north radiates the species over Central America (Honduras ) out until after Trinidad and Cuba.

Ecology

All species inhabit mainly extreme, nutrient-poor and poor in humus, moist to wet sites, particularly on the island of mountains and Ferricreten (iron crust soils), in which they often occur together with other carnivores (especially water hoses and Sonnentauen ), but also representatives of the Eriocaulaceae, Xyridaceae and Burmanniaceae. In addition, Reuse traps find but occasionally also in white sand savannas or marshes, a few semi-aquatic species such as G. repens prefer watery areas as habitat.

Since the island mountain areas, where most species are native, represent rare habitats, the species are rare, but they are not considered to be threatened.

Use

From the early 1990s, the first species occurred at Karnivorenliebhabern isolated in culture. However, similar to their relatives, the water hoses, they result in corresponding collections mostly in the shadows. Otherwise, the class is not used by the people.

System

The genus was first described in 1883 by Auguste Saint- Hilaire. The botanical name of the genus honors the French writer Félicité de Genlis.

Subgenera and species

The genus comprises 29 species and is still divided into two subgenera: Tayloria and Genlisea. The latter is in turn divided into three sections, as follows:

  • Subgenus Genlisea section Recurvatae Genlisea margaretae
  • Genlisea glandulosissima
  • Genlisea pallida
  • Subgenus Tayloria Genlisea uncinata
  • Genlisea metallica
  • Genlisea oligophylla
  • Genlisea flexuosa
  • Genlisea violacea
  • Genlisea lobata
  • Genlisea nebulicola
  • Genlisea exhibitionista

Phylogenetics

An investigation of the family Lentibulariaceae (Müller 2004) took into account six species and gave the following preliminary cladogram:

African Group 3 (G. hispidula )

African Group 2 (G. stapfii )

African Group 1 (G. margaretae )

South American species of subgenus Genlisea

Subgenus Tayloria

The closest relatives of Reuse traps are the water hoses.

Genetics

With 63.4 Mbp for Genlisea margaretae or 63.6 Mbp for Genlisea aurea contains the genus, the two species with the smallest known genomes of all angiosperms. Also noteworthy is the size of individual chromosomes that move with 2.1 Mbp for Genlisea aurea in the orders of magnitude of bacteria.

Asterids Spur (botany) Wound dehiscence Middle America (region) Guyana Monadnock Swamp Base pair
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