Trichophorum cespitosum subsp. germanicum is a subspecies of Trichophorum cespitosum.[2] It is a characteristic plant of nutrient-poor moors, wet heaths and moorland forests in Europe. The mostly hedgehog-shaped form of its tufts is characteristic.
| Trichophorum cespitosum subsp. germanicum | |
|---|---|
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| Inflorescences | |
Scientific classification 
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| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| Clade: | Tracheophytes |
| Clade: | Angiosperms |
| Clade: | Monocots |
| Clade: | Commelinids |
| Order: | Poales |
| Family: | Cyperaceae |
| Genus: | Trichophorum |
| Species: | |
| Subspecies: | T. c. subsp. germanicum
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| Trinomial name | |
| Trichophorum cespitosum subsp. germanicum | |
| Synonyms[1] | |
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6 Synonyms
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Description
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Vegetative characteristics
editTrichophorum cespitosum subsp. germanicum is a perennial, herbaceous plant that grows to a height of 5 to 60 centimetres. This hemicryptophyte forms small to medium-sized, dense, rigid clumps, which in turn can form dense turfs; no runners are formed. The base of the stem is roundish to triangular-roundish. The basal leaf sheaths are leathery brown and shiny. The stems grow rigidly upright or diagonally upwards, sometimes bent over at fruiting time. The stems are round in cross-section, smooth and green to dark green.[3]
The leaf sheaths of the lower leaves are usually without leaf blades. The uppermost leaf sheath is cut off at an angle and is more than 2 millimeters deep at the base of the leaf blade. The 1 millimeter wide uppermost leaf blade is about twice as long as the cut-out is deep (see picture on the left). The ligules are very short.[4]
Generative features
editIt flowers from May to July, rarely later.[5] The one or two bracts are similar to the glumes and are about as long as the inflorescence. The inflorescence consists of a single, terminal, erect spikelet. With a length of 5 to 10 millimeters, the spikelets are obovate or elongated to club-shaped and contain three to twenty flowers. The flowers contain three stamens and three stigmas.[citation needed]
The main axis of the spikelets, the spikelet rachis, is about 3 millimeters long after the fruit has fallen off. The glumes are elongated lanceolate, pointed, 3 to 4 millimeters long, yellow to reddish-brown, with a green keel and membranous edge. The five to six perianth bristles (perigone) are usually significantly longer than the fruit.[3]
The caryopsis, which is grey to yellow-brown when ripe, is flattened triangular at a length of 1.5 to 2 millimeters and narrows towards the upper end. The number of chromosomes is 2n = 104.[6]
Possibilities of confusion
editTrichophorun species are generally similar in appearance to Eleocharis species. In contrast to these, however, they have a clear, albeit short, leaf blade on the uppermost leaf sheath.
The common rush (Trichophorum cespitosum subsp. cespitosum) is very similar. Its uppermost leaf sheath is only about 1 millimeter deep at the base of the leaf blade. The uppermost leaf blade is about five times as long as the notch is deep. The terminal spikelet is 5 to 6 millimeters long; the spikelet spindles are 2 millimeters long or longer after the fruits have fallen off.[7]
Distribution
editTrichophorum cespitosum subsp. germanicum occurs exclusively in western Europe, namely in Portugal, Spain, France, Belgium, the Netherlands, Germany, Denmark (including the Faroe Islands), Great Britain (including the Shetland Islands and the Hebrides), Ireland, Norway and Sweden.[1] It is replaced to the south, north and east by Trichophorum cespitosum subsp. cespitosum.[8] Its total area is estimated at 100,000 to one million km2. The proportion of its range in Germany is 10 to 33 percent. Here it is found in the northern Black Forest, the Harz Mountains and the northern German lowlands. The Federal Republic of Germany represents the south-eastern outer edge of its continuously populated range.[9]
Site conditions
editTrichophorum cespitosum subsp. germanicum rows optimally in full light and only tolerates shade to a limited extent. Its ecological focus is on wet, partially flooded, highly acidic, very low-nitrogen moorland soils and bogs. It is not saline. It is also a moderate heat indicator. IT is mainly found in submontane-temperate areas of western Europe with an oceanic climate. Its ecological behavior can be classified according to the Ellenberg indicator values as follows: L-8, T-5, K-2, F-9, R-1, N-1, S-0.[10]
In Switzerland, the ecological indicator values according to Landolt et al. 2010 are: moisture index F = 4w+ (very moist but highly variable), light index L = 4 (bright), reaction index R = 1 (highly acidic), temperature index T = 3 (montane), nutrient index N = 1 (very nutrient-poor), continentality index K = 1 (oceanic).[11]
It is a so-called competitive stress strategist. Plant taxa in this group are perennial, highly competitive species on sites with at least one minimum or maximum ecological factor (stress). These include, for example, marsh plants, plants in dry locations or tall mountain plants that can cope with the extreme conditions of their locations and thus have a competitive advantage over other plants.[12]
An effective internal nutrient cycle is characteristic - and many other raised bog plants. The nutrients required to build up the above-ground parts of the plant are transferred back to the base of the shoot during seed formation. In the following vegetation period, this supply can be mobilized without losses. In addition, intensive rooting of the upper soil layers and the very closely spaced plant specimens prevent nutrients from dead plant parts from being washed out.[13]
Ecology
editTrichophorum cespitosum subsp. germanicum forms a so-called mycorrhiza with fungi.[4] This symbiosis allows it to better absorb the scarce soil nutrients. It is pollinated by wind (anemophilous) and its seeds are also spread by the wind (anemochory).[citation needed]
Phytosociology
editFrom a phytosociological point of view, it is the characteristic species of the association Sphagno compacti-Trichophoretum germanici (Oberd. 1938) Bartsch 1940 em. Dierßen 1975 (in German: Rasenbinsen-Anmoor) within the bell heather-wet heath communities (association Ericion tetralicis).[14] Characteristic species of these plant communities are peat mosses such as Sphagnum compactum, Sphagnum tenellum, bell heather (Erica tetralix), yellow bog lily (Narthecium ossifragum), narrow-leaved cotton grass (Eriophorum angustifolium), blue moor grass (Molinia caerulea) and bog birch (Betula pubescens). Other heather plants such as common cranberry (Vaccinium oxycoccos), various bilberrys (Vaccinium uliginosum, Vaccinium myrtillus) and sheath cottongrass (Eriophorum vaginatum) are constant companions.[15]
Etymology of the scientific name
editThe genus name Trichophorum goes back etymologically to the fruiting stem, which is covered with a fine tuft of woolly hairs after ripening, and is derived from the ancient Greek words thríx, genitive trichós and Greek -phóros. However, only the alpine grass (Trichophorum alpinum) has such a "woolly head" (peristome) and shows the close relationship to the genus of cotton grasses (Eriophorum). In the other species of the genus Trichophorum, the perianth is reduced to fine bristles. Artepithetum cespitosum comes from the Latin caespēs gen. caespitis and is translated as "turf-forming". The name for the subspecies germanicum is derived from the area of Germany.[16]
Conservation
editTrichophorum cespitosum subsp. germanicum is not endangered throughout Europe and enjoys no special legal protection. In Germany, however, it is classified as "endangered" (endangerment category 3). In Hamburg and Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, it is classified as "threatened with extinction" (endangerment category 1). In Brandenburg and Berlin, it is now "extinct" (endangerment category 0). In north-western Germany, it has declined sharply, particularly due to the cultivation of moorland heaths. Larger populations now only grow in some nature reserves; small remnants can usually still be found along forest paths and edges in areas of afforested heathland.[17]
References
edit- ^ a b "Trichophorum cespitosum subsp. germanicum (Palla) Hegi". Plants of the World Online. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Retrieved 18 August 2024.
- ^ "Trichophorum cespitosum (L.) Hartm.". Plants of the World Online. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Retrieved 18 August 2024.
- ^ a b McClintock, David; Fitter, R.S.R. (1961). The Pocket Guide to Wild Flowers. London: Collins. p. 201.
- ^ a b BSBI List 2007 (xls). Botanical Society of Britain and Ireland. Archived from the original (xls) on 2015-06-26. Retrieved 17 October 2014.
- ^ Jürke Grau, Bruno P. Kremer, Bodo M. Möseler, Gerhard Rambold, Dagmar Triebel: Gräser. Süßgräser, Sauergräser, Binsengewächse und grasähnliche Familien Europas (= Steinbachs Naturführer). Neue, bearb. Sonderausgabe Auflage. Mosaik, München 1996, ISBN 3-576-10702-9.
- ^ Erich Oberdorfer: Pflanzensoziologische Exkursionsflora. Ulmer, Stuttgart 1994, ISBN 3-8252-1828-7.
- ^ "Trichophorum cespitosum". Online Atlas of the British and Irish Flora. Retrieved 12 March 2020.
- ^ Kent, Martin (2011). Vegetation Description and Data Analysis: A Practical Approach. John Wiley & Sons. p. 159. ISBN 978-1-119-96239-7.
- ^ Weltweite Verbreitung von Gewöhnlicher und Deutscher Rasenbinse nach The Linnaeus Server [1], retrieved 9 September 2006.
- ^ Heinz Ellenberg, H. E. Weber, R. Düll, V. Wirth, W. Werner & D. Paulißen: Zeigerwerte von Pflanzen in Mitteleuropa. Scripta Geobotanica 18, Verlag Erich Goltze, 1992, ISBN 3-88452-518-2.
- ^ "Trichophorum cespitosum subsp. germanicum (Palla) Hegi". InfoFlora.ch, the national database and information centre of Swiss flora. 2023-09-09.
- ^ Stefan Klotz, Ingolf Kühn: Ökologische Strategietypen. Bundesamt für Naturschutz Bonn, Schriftenreihe für Vegetationskunde Heft 38, 2002, Seite 197–201.
- ^ Claus-Peter Hutter (Hrsg.), Alois Kapfer & Peter Poschlod: Sümpfe und Moore - Biotope erkennen, bestimmen, schützen. Weitbrecht Verlag, Stuttgart, Wien, Bern, 1997, ISBN 3-522-72060-1.
- ^ Richard Pott: Pflanzengesellschaften Deutschlands. - Verlag Eugen Ulmer, Stuttgart, 1992, ISBN 3-8252-8067-5
- ^ Erich Oberdorfer: Süddeutsche Pflanzengesellschaften. Teil I: Fels- und Mauergesellschaften, alpine Fluren, Wasser-, Verlandungs- und Moorgesellschaften. 4. Auflage, Gustav Fischer, Jena, Stuttgart, 1998, ISBN 3-437-35280-6.
- ^ Helmut Genaust: Etymologisches Wörterbuch der botanischen Pflanzennamen. 3., vollständig überarbeitete und erweiterte Auflage. Nikol, Hamburg 2005, ISBN 3-937872-16-7 (Reprint of 1996).
- ^ Klaus Kaplan: Farn- und Blütenpflanzen nährstoffarmer Feuchtbiotope. Metelener Schriftenreihe für Naturschutz. H. 3. Metelen 1992, ISSN 0936-7357.
![[1]](http://linnaeus.nrm.se/flora/mono/cypera/trich/triccesv.jpg){kind=link}