Xerophyllum tenax

Beargrass ( Xerophyllum tenax )

The bear grass ( Xerophyllum tenax ) is one of two species of the genus Xerophyllum. In the botanical sense, it is not a grass, but it belongs to the family of the Germer family ( Melanthiaceae ).

Description

Bear grass is a perennial herbaceous plant that reaches the heights of growth between 1.2 and 1.8 m. The roots are thick. It forms from woody rhizomes, which end in bulbs ( with " tunic "). This drive upright and unbranched stem axis, 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, keeled, 10-80 cm long and 2-4 mm wide. The leaf margin is serrated.

In spring or early summer, a 50 to 70 cm high, terminal racemose inflorescence is formed with closely spaced flowers and bracts. The small, fragrant flowers are hermaphroditic and threefold. The six more or less identically designed, creamy white bracts ( tepals ) are 6-9 mm long and 2-3 mm wide. 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 pens are 4 mm long.

There are 5 to 7 mm long, formed spherical to ovoid, lokulizide fruit capsules, each containing four seeds per fruit tray. The greenish- brown seeds are triangular, 3-4 mm in size and wingless.

The chromosome number is 2n = 30,

Ecology

Bear grass is well adapted to the frequent in its distribution area wildfires. After that, it is often the first plant species growing again since the rhizomes survive underground.

Dissemination

Bear grass colonized open coniferous forests, dry slopes, boulders and soil glades and altitudes up to 2,300 m. It is found mainly in western North America, from the Canadian British Columbia in the north to the southern California and east to Wyoming. It is widely used in the coastal chain, on the Olympic Peninsula, in the Cascade Range, the northern Sierra Nevada and the Rocky Mountains.

Cultural Significance

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.

Today, the leaves are often used as a binder in the green floristry.

System

The German -Canadian botanist Frederick Traugott Pursh described this kind of 1813/14 under the name Helonias tenax in Fl. Amer. sept. 1:243, t. 9, 1813-1814. The name was still valid by English botanist Thomas Nuttall in 1818 published gene. N. Amer. pl., 1818, 1:235 ..