Lysichiton

Skunk cabbage ( Lysichiton americanus)

Note Kalla ( Lysichiton ), also Riesenaronstab, Skunk Cabbage, or skunk cabbage called, is a genus with only two species in the family Araceae ( Araceae ).

• 5.1 Notes and references

Description

Vegetative characteristics

Lysichiton species grow as deciduous, perennial herbaceous plants. The Asian species is slightly smaller than the American. They form as outlasting from vertical rhizomes. The white roots are contractile.

The undergraduate, upright, deciduous leaves are divided into petiole and leaf blade. The leaf stalks are thick and short. The simple leaf blade is elliptic to oblong - ovate or upside - lanceolate, acute to obtuse ends and has a wedge -shaped to almost truncated base. The main nerves are arranged fiedrig. The leaves unfold until during or after the flowering period.

Generative features

The flowering time is mainly in early spring. The typical Arum inflorescence has no inflorescence stem. Inflorescences of skunk cabbage species (hence the common name ) have a bad, indoloiden odor. The inflorescence consists of the spathe ( single bract ) and spadix (piston). The boat-shaped, bright yellow ( Lysichiton americanus) or white ( Lysichiton camtschatcensis ) spathe surrounds the piston initially completely, the upper portion opens during the heyday far, only the lower area around the piston stem remains completely closed; wilting shortly after flowering of the individual flowers. The almost cylindrical piston is initially shorter than the spathe, but because its stem grows to seed maturity is the piston after a while on the spathe addition. A flask contains numerous small flowers. The hermaphrodite flowers are cruciform. There are four yellow- green bracts present. There are four fertile stamens present. The one - or two-chamber usually ovary contains each chamber one to two ovules.

The berries contain one to four seeds. The green berries are in a white Pulpus, which is formed from the spadix, embedded.

The basic chromosome number is x = 14

Occurrence

Lysichiton americanus is originally native to the North American continent in the Canadian and U.S. states of Alaska and British Columbia, Idaho, Montana, Oregon, Washington and California at elevations 0-1400 meters.

Lysichiton camtschatcensis occurs in the regions of Russia Kamchatka, Khabarovsk, the Kuril Islands, Magadan, Sakhalin and Hokkaido and Honshu in Japan.

The two Lysichiton species thrive in swamps, wet woods, along streams and other somewhat moist areas.

The American skunk cabbage is an invasive plant in some areas in Europe.

System

The first publication of this kind was in 1857 by Heinrich Wilhelm Schott in Oesterreichisches Botanical weekly, 7, pp. 62 under the name Lysichitum. It long remained a monotypic genus with the only kind Lysichitum camtschatcense, which was first published by Carl Linnaeus camtschatcense as Dracontium L.. It was not until 1931 under the separation of American from the Asian population with the redescription of Lysichiton americanus by Eric Hultén and Harold St. John in The American species of Lysichitum, in Svensk Botanisk Tidskrift, 25, pp. 455 was originally the name for Lysichitum camtschatcense population both in North America and Asia used; they differ mainly by the yellow and white spathe.

The botanical genus name Lysichiton is derived from the Greek words lysis for dissolving, unfolding and chiton for cover from, this refers to the spathe.

The genus Lysichiton thus contains only two types:

• Skunk cabbage, yellow bill Kalla, American Riesenaronstab ( Lysichiton americanus Hultén & H.St.John )
• White Slip Kalla, Asian skunk cabbage, Asian Riesenaronstab, Kamchatka Rauwolfia ( Lysichiton camtschatcensis Hultén & H.St.John, Syn. Dracontium camtschatcense L., Lysichiton album Makino, Lysichiton japonicus ( A. Gray ) Schott ex Miq, Lysichitum camtschatcense ( L.) Schott)

Note: the trivial name skunk cabbage is also Symplocarpus foetidus (L.) Nutt. be used.

Use

Both Lysichiton species are used as ornamental plants for ponds.

Of the indigenous peoples of North America almost all plant parts of Lysichiton americanus were used as food or for medicinal purposes. The underground parts of plants are referred to as toxic.

Swell

• Sue A. Thompson: Araceae in Flora of North America, Volume 22, 2000: Lysichiton - Online. (Section Description, systematics and distribution )