Tofieldia pusilla

Small Sims lily ( Tofieldia pusilla )

The Sims Little Lily ( Tofieldia pusilla ) is a plant of the family Liliaceae Sims ( Tofieldiaceae ).

Description

The Small Sims lily grows as a perennial herbaceous plant, reaching heights of growth 5-12 cm. The basal leaves are riding, linear, sword-shaped short acuminate, almost blunt, have three to five longitudinal nerves and reach 1-5 (up to 8) inches in length and 3 mm width. The stem is erect and leafy only at the base.

The inflorescence is a crowded mostly capitate, 0.5 to 2 inches long grape and is composed of five to ten (up to 35 ) 1 to 3 millimeters long stemmed flowers together. The flowers are in the armpit of off-white, three-lobed supporting each sheet. A cup- like cover page at the base of the flower is missing. The whitish to greenish bracts are 1.5 to 2.5 millimeters long. The stamens are about the same length as the tepals. The ovary is ellipsoid with 0.3 to 0.4 mm long pistils. The capsule fruit is between 2.5 and 3 millimeters long and almost spherical. The seeds are 0.6 to 0.8 millimeters long.

The flowering period extends into central Europe from July to August.

The Sims Little Lily is diploid with a chromosome number of 2n = 30

Occurrence

The circumpolar arctic - alpine distribution area of ​​the Little Sims lily covers Iceland, Scandinavia, Northern Siberia, Alaska, northern Canada and Greenland; in the Urals and in the Rocky Mountains, it extends further to the south. In addition, the species is found in Europe in the UK, especially in Scotland and the Alps. In Germany, several occurrences of the Berchtesgaden Alps are known, there are also single occurrences in the weather stone and in the Karwendel Mountains.

The Small Sims lily forms with common occurrence with other Tofieldia species hybrids: Tofieldia × hybrida Kerner ( Tofieldia pusilla calyculata ×, Syn Tofieldia pusilla subsp austriaca Kunz. ) In Europe, Tofieldia coccinea × pusilla in North America.

The Little Lily Sims preferably lime, but sometimes also occurs on lime-poor substrates. They settled in the Alps transpired lowmoors, Schneetälchen and upholstery harrow lawn at altitudes 1600-2600 meters.

The Sims Little Lily is assessed in the Red List of endangered species in Germany and Bavaria with a status of " R" ( extremely rare).