Helonias

Helonias bullata

Helonias bullata is the only species of the genus within the family of Helonias Germer plants ( Melanthiaceae ). It is distributed in North America, where it is called " Swamp Pink". Helonias bullata is used as an ornamental plant.

• 5.1 Notes and references

Description and Synecology

Appearance and leaf

Helonias bullata grows as an evergreen, perennial herbaceous plant. As Hemikryptophyt makes it as Überdauerungsorgan an underground, squat, gnarled rhizome. By Rhizome there is a vegetative propagation and there are dense in some locations, formed individual- rich stocks. The fibrous roots can keep the rhizome by contraction in the lowest level in the underground. The aboveground plant parts are bare.

The durable, bare leaves are borne in a basal rosette. The simple, dark green leaf blade is at a length of 9 to 35 cm and a width of 1.5 to 4 cm oblong- spatulate to wrong - lanceolate with pointed top and smooth margin. There is Parallelnervatur. During the winter, the leaves color often reddish brown and are often flat to slightly raised, sometimes with the fall foliage, and are therefore often difficult to see. When the leaves in spring are newly formed and during the flowering season they are bright green and relatively small and increase in size afterwards.

Inflorescence, flowering and pollination

In North America, is the heyday in the late spring to early summer, mainly from March to May; it is one of the earliest blooming native species in eastern North America. The bare, durable, simple, upright and hollow Blütenstandsschäfte have bract -like leaves that are broadly triangular with a length of 1 to 2 cm. The Blütenstandsschäfte stretch to fruit maturity, so that the plants a plant height of 10 to 20 cm and have during the fruit ripening of up to 60 cm during the flowering period. The terminal, racemose inflorescences contain 30 to 70 flowers, but no covers. The inflorescences are ovate during the flowering period with a length of 2.5 to 10 cm and extend to fruit maturity up to a length of 10 to 17,5 cm. The flower stems are at first very short and stretch to a length of 5 to 8 mm.

The scented flowers are hermaphrodite radial symmetry, funnel-shaped and threefold with a diameter of about 1 cm. The six equally diverse, durable bracts are free to slightly deformed at its base and spatulate at a length of 4-9 mm to elongate. The bloom are initially purple -pink and discolored green later. The bloom are laid out as well as 3 to 4 mm long. At the base of the bloom nectaries are present. There are two circles, each with three durable stamens present, which are approximately the same length as the bloom. From among themselves free, filiform, 5-6 mm long stamens, the inner three are grown in the lower part of the ovary. The basifixen, floating, blue anthers are 0.75 to 1 mm in length and point outward. The three carpels are fused into a superior ovaries, which is dreikammerig and single chamber at the top of the bottom. There are no Septalnektarien available. The three free, 1.4 to 2.5 mm long stylus are recessed into the upper end of the ovary and thereby acting sitting three free scars are ascending to arching upward and along the entire top surface not papillose.

Helonias bullata is strongly self- compatible. Many insect species were observed as flower visitors. Even with self-pollination, a large number of seeds produced.

Fruit, seeds and propagation of diasporas

The lokulizide, dreifächerige capsule fruit is at a length of 3-8 mm and a diameter of 8 to 10 mm deep -lobed and thereby wrong - heart-shaped. The pericarp is like parchment.

Each fruit tray can hold about 16 seeds. The whitish- brown seeds are linear - fusiform with a length of 4 to 6 mm and have at both ends of a tail- shaped, fatty appendage ( Elaiosom ), which are eaten by ants. The seeds are viable for only a short time.

The spread of the seeds is done so by ants myrmecochory. It is reported that the spread of the seeds is effected by the wind.

Chromosome number

The basic chromosome number is x = 17, it is diploidy ago with 2n = 34

Occurrence and risk

Helonias bullata is widespread in eastern North America. Locality data are for the U.S. states of New Jersey, southeastern New York ( deposits off), Delaware (occurrence off), northwestern Georgia, Maryland ( off occurrence), Western North Carolina, South Carolina and Virginia before. In Pennsylvania, she is a neophyte ..

The home of Helonias bullata are the Blue Ridge Mountains and the northern coastal plains. Helonias bullata thrives in bogs, marshes and Pocosins at altitudes 0-1100 meters.

The stocks are threatened by drainage of wetlands, water pollution, habitat loss due to urbanization, agriculture and forestry, habitat degradation (eg, sedimentation), trampling and collection of beautiful inflorescences or whole plants.

New Jersey is the state with the most preserved populations. In 1990 were over 65 populations, with 1 to 5000 rosettes detected. The holdings along the east coast are fairly extensive, all other populations are at risk of poorer copies, and more. Of the original eight U.S. states, the stocks are now extinct in three. In the remaining five states together there are about 122 populations. The largest populations in Delaware contain 10,000 to 25,000 and 100,000 in North Carolina rosettes. In Georgia, there is only one location.

Overall Helonias bullata is called " globally vulnerable" = " at risk " rating.

System

This species was herbarisiert middle of the 18th century by Swedish naturalist Peter Kalm first with a place of origin " in the vicinity of Philadelphia "; the locality is but probably in New Jersey. The genus Helonias was erected in 1753 by Carl Linnaeus in Species Plantarum, 1st edition, page 342 with the type species Helonias bullata; to Linnaeus used the herbarium of Kalm. As lectotype 1993 Kalm was S. N.; ( LINN 471.1 ) by James Lauritz Reveal in Regnum Veg. 127, pp. 53 selected. The genus name is derived Helonias effortlessly from the Greek word for swamp from; which refers to the habitat. The specific epithet means bullata blistered or tuberculate.

Synonyms for Helonias bullata (L.) A. Gray are: Veratrum americanum Mill, Helonias latifolia Michx, Helonias lanceolata Sims, Helonias scapigera Stokes, Helonias striata .. Raf.

Helonias bullata is the only species of the genus in the tribe Helonias Heloniadeae within the family Melanthiaceae. The Tribe Heloniadeae had earlier also the rank of a family or Heloniadaceae was classified in the family Liliaceae .. The Tribe Heloniadeae contains three genera, all of which are elements of the arcto -Tertiary Geoflora. Helonias comes in eastern North America and Ypsilandra (western China to the Himalayas ) and Heloniopsis (Korea, Taiwan and Japan) found in eastern Asia before ( N. Tanaka 1997).

Use

Helonias bullata is used as an ornamental plant in ponds.

Swell

• Frederick H. Utech: Helonias genus and species Helonias bullata, pp. 69-70 - the same text online as well as printed work, Flora of North America Editorial Committee ( eds.): Flora of North America North of Mexico, Volume 26 - Magnoliophyta: Liliidae: Liliales and Orchidales, Oxford University Press, New York and Oxford, 2002. ISBN 0-19-515208-5 ( Description section, and dissemination )
• Noriyuki Tanaka: Phylogenetic and taxonomic studies on Helonias, Ypsilandra and Heloniopsis: 1 Comparison of character states, in: Journal of Japanese Botany, Volume 72, Issue 4, 1997, pp. 221-228, 2nd Evolution and geographical distribution, in: Journal of Japanese Botany, Volume 72, Issue 5, 1997, pp. 286-292 and 3 Taxonomic revision, in: Journal of Japanese Botany, Volume 73, Issue 2, 1998, pp. 102-115.
• Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants; Determination of Helonias bullata ( Swamp Pink) to be a Threatened Species in United States Fish and Wildlife Service - Fish and Wildlife Service, Interior, Volume 53, Number 175, 9 September 1988 (PDF, 1.5 MB).
• Helonias bullata - swamp pink in Celebrating Wildflowers - Threatened, Endangered, and Proposed (TEP ) Plant Profile - U.S. Forest Service.
• Swamp Pink ( Helonias bullata ) - Recovery Plan 1991 ( PDF; 5.6 MB).
• Helonia bullata L. NatureServe. NatureServe Explorer: An online encyclopedia of life, Arlington, Virginia, 2009 - Version 7.1 ..
• Helonias bullata at CPC National Collection Plant Profile - Center for Plant Conservation.