Xerophyllum (plant)
Beargrass ( Xerophyllum tenax )
Xerophyllum is the only plant genus of the tribe Xerophylleae in the family of Germer plants ( Melanthiaceae ). This class consists of only two types. The two species differ mainly in the plant height, the size of the leaves, the diameter of the inflorescences, which Xerophyllum tenax in all characteristics is slightly larger than asphodeloides Xerophyllum, and their area of distribution. The botanical genus name Xerophyllum is composed of the Greek words xeros for dry and phyllon for leaf together.
Description
The two Xerophyllum species are perennial herbaceous plant. The roots are thick. They form from woody rhizomes, which end in bulbs ( with " tunic "). This drive upright and unbranched stems, which bloom only after a few years and die after seed formation. The spiral for the most part arranged on the base, but also around the stem around leaves are thin - linear and keeled. The leaf margin is serrated.
It is made with close-set flowers and bracts a terminal, racemose inflorescence. The small, fragrant flowers are hermaphroditic and threefold. The six more or less identically designed, creamy white bracts ( tepals ) have five to seven nerves. There are two circles, each with three stamens present; they are 3 to 4 mm long. Three carpels are fused into a superior ovaries. The three free pen are bent back.
Are formed spherical to ovoid, lokulizide capsule fruits that contain two to four seeds per fruit tray. The greenish- brown seeds are triangular, 3-4 mm in size and wingless.
The chromosome number is 2n = 30,
Use
Both species are used as ornamental plants.
The fibers of the leaves of the bear grass were woven by the Native Americans to clothing and decorative waterproof baskets. The fleshy rhizomes were roasted for several days and then eaten. Plant parts have been used in folk medicine.
Systematics and distribution
The genus Xerophyllum consists of only two types. Previously they formed their own family Xerophyllaceae Takht. Both species were formerly attributed to the genus Helonias. The first type is in the eastern, home to the other in western North America:
- Xerophyllum asphodeloides (L.) Nutt. It has a disjoint area in the dry oak - hickory forests of the southern Blue Ridge Mountains and the dry sandy soils of the Pine Barrens in New Jersey. Only in this way the alkaloid Xerophia was detected (W. Procter 1839).
- Beargrass ( Xerophyllum tenax ( Pursh ) Nutt. ): Your site is primarily in western North America, from the Canadian British Columbia in the north to the southern California and east to Wyoming. Bear grass colonized open coniferous forests, dry slopes, rubble floors and clearings at altitudes 0-2300 meters.
Swell
- Frederick H. Utech: Xerophyllum in the Flora of North America, Volume 26, p 71: Online (English )