Kleinia neriifolia
Chalk Sticks ( Senecio Kleinia )
The Chalk Sticks ( Senecio Kleinia ), sometimes referred to as an ornamental plant monkey palm, is an endemic plant species in the Canary Islands from the kind old man herbs ( Senecio ) and belongs to the sunflower family ( Asteraceae). The epithet of the species honors the German scientist Jacob Theodor Klein.
Description
Older plants grow as deciduous, branched, succulent shrubs and reach stature heights between 50 and 300 centimeters. The gray-green members of the shoot axes are cylindrical and covered by the leaf scars of the fallen leaves during the dry months. The fleshy, gray-green leaves are up to 12 inches long, lance-shaped, but very different widths. Often, they are similar to those of the oleander, but they can also be narrower.
The flowering period begins towards the end of the dry period, the long flowering period of the summer and autumn months includes (around August-November ). The slender bloom conditions have a single row cover ( involucre ) with small outer shell. The flowers are whitish to yellow. The achenes have a pappus conspicuous.
Distribution and systematics
Senecio Kleinia only grows in the Canary Islands. They thrive in altitudes between 50 and 1000 meters. It is there mostly associated with shrubby euphorbias and a characteristic type of Macaronesian Sukkulentenbusches.
The scientific description was in 1753 Cacalia Kleinia by Carl Linnaeus in Species Plantarum. Christian Friedrich Lessing type 1831 in the genus Senecio. An important synonym is Kleinia neriifolia Haw. , Described in 1812 by Haworth. Similarly, the as Senecio Kleinia f ovalifolia designated broad form, which is known from Lanzarote and La Gomera, treated as a synonym.
Pictures
In the dry season without leaves with inflorescences and closed flowers
Achenes with pappus