Alchemilla alpina

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Alchemilla alpina
Alchemilla alpina1.JPG
Scientific classification Red Pencil Icon.png
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Rosids
Order: Rosales
Family: Rosaceae
Genus: Alchemilla
Species:
A. alpina
Binomial name
Alchemilla alpina
L.

Alchemilla alpina, commonly known as alpine lady's-mantle, [1] is an arctic-montane herbaceous perennial plant native to Europe and Southern Greenland.

Contents

Alpine lady's-mantle has been used for centuries as an herbal remedy, [2] and is used in horticulture as a ground cover and in rock gardens.

Description

Alpine lady's-mantle is a perennial plant with a woody rhizome growing to a height of between 5 and 20 cm (2 and 8 in). The weak stems are silkily hairy and grow from a basal rosette and the leaves are palmate with about seven lanceolate leaflets with toothed tips, smooth above and densely hairy underneath. There are alternate pairs of leaves on the stems and the inflorescence forms a dense cyme. The flowers are lime green with four sepals, no petals, four stamens and a solitary carpel. They are hermaphrodite and the seeds develop apomictically without being fertilised. [3] The flowers begin to bloom in June and fade in September and their seeds can be collected from August to October. [4]

Because the seeds develop without cross fertilisation, any mutations that may occur gradually cause cumulative changes to populations and there are a great many very similar species of lady's-mantle, sometimes called micro-species. Alpine lady's-mantle is easily distinguished from other lady's-mantles by the fact that its leaves have clearly separate leaflets while other species have neatly pleated leaves. [3]

Distribution and habitat

Alpine lady's-mantle grows in northern Europe and in mountainous regions further south such as the Alps and the Pyrenees. It also grows in southern Greenland. Its natural habitat is moorland, alpine meadows, cliffs, stream banks and areas covered in drifts of snow during the winter. [3]

Ecology

Alchemilla alpina is a known host to numerous species of fungi. These include: [5]

Related Research Articles

<i>Hesperis matronalis</i> Species of plant

Hesperis matronalis is an herbaceous plant species in the family Brassicaceae. It has numerous common names, including dame's rocket, damask-violet, dame's-violet, dames-wort, dame's gilliflower, night-scented gilliflower, queen's gilliflower, rogue's gilliflower, summer lilac, sweet rocket, mother-of-the-evening, Good & Plenties, and winter gilliflower.

<i>Alchemilla</i> Genus of flowering plants

Alchemilla is a genus of herbaceous perennial plants in the family Rosaceae, with the common name lady's mantle applied generically as well as specifically to Alchemilla mollis when referred to as a garden plant. The plant used as a herbal tea or for medicinal usage such as gynaecological disorders is Alchemilla xanthochlora or in Middle Europe the so-called common lady's mantle Alchemilla vulgaris. There are about 700 species, the majority native to cool temperate and subarctic regions of Europe and Asia, with a few species native to the mountains of Africa and the Americas.

<i>Arabis alpina</i> Species of flowering plant

Arabis alpina, the Alpine rock-cress, is a flowering plant in the family Brassicaceae, native to mountainous areas of Europe, North and East Africa, Central and Eastern Asia and parts of North America. In the British Isles, it is only known to occur in a few locations in the Cuillin Ridge of the Isle of Skye. It inhabits damp gravels and screes, often over limestone.

<i>Alchemilla mollis</i> Species of flowering plant

Alchemilla mollis, the garden lady's-mantle or lady's-mantle, is a species of flowering plant in the family Rosaceae. This herbaceous perennial plant is native to southern Europe and grown throughout the world as an ornamental garden plant. It grows 30 to 45 cm tall, with leaves that are palmately veined, with a scalloped and serrated margin. The stipules are noteworthy in that they are fused together and leaf like. The chartreuse yellow flowers are held in dense clusters above the foliage. A. mollis has gained the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit. The plant self-seeds freely and can become invasive.

<i>Homogyne alpina</i> Species of flowering plant

Homogyne alpina, the Alpine coltsfoot or purple colt's-foot, is a rhizomatous herb in the family Asteraceae, which is often used as an ornamental plant. In addition, this plant has purple-red flowers, and it is usually associated with the gall flies Ensina sonchi and Acidia cognata.

<i>Saxifraga paniculata</i> Species of flowering plant

Saxifraga paniculata is an alpine species of flowering plant in the saxifrage family, with native distribution in the temperate northern hemisphere. Common names include alpine saxifrage, encrusted saxifrage, lifelong saxifrage, lime-encrusted saxifrage, livelong saxifrage, white mountain saxifrage, and silver saxifrage.

<i>Cicerbita alpina</i> Species of flowering plant

Cicerbita alpina, commonly known as the alpine sow-thistle or alpine blue-sow-thistle is a perennial herbaceous species of plant sometimes placed in the genus Cicerbita of the family Asteraceae, and sometimes placed in the genus Lactuca as Lactuca alpina. It is native to upland and mountainous parts of Europe.

<i>Chrysosplenium alternifolium</i> Species of flowering plant

Chrysosplenium alternifolium is a species of flowering plant in the saxifrage family known as the alternate-leaved golden-saxifrage. It is a mat-forming perennial of wet places that grows between 5 and 15 cm tall. It blooms from March onward.

<i>Potentilla recta</i> Species of flowering plant

Potentilla recta, the sulphur cinquefoil or rough-fruited cinquefoil, is a species of cinquefoil. It is native to Eurasia but it is present in North America as an introduced species, ranging through almost the entire continent except the northernmost part of Canada and Alaska.

<i>Astragalus agrestis</i> Species of legume

Astragalus agrestis is a species of milkvetch known by the common names purple milkvetch, purple loco, and field milkvetch. It is native to much of western and northern North America from most of Canada to the southwestern United States, as well as eastern Asia. It grows in vernally moist areas such as meadows, and is often found in sagebrush.

<i>Veronica wormskjoldii</i> Species of flowering plant in the family Plantaginaceae

Veronica wormskjoldii is a species of flowering plant in the plantain family known by the common name American alpine speedwell. It is native to much of northern and western North America, including the western United States and northern Canada, from where it grows in moist alpine habitat, such as mountain forest understory. It has a wide subarctic distribution from Alaska to Greenland.

<i>Polemonium chartaceum</i> Species of flowering plant

Polemonium chartaceum is a rare species of flowering plant in the phlox family known by the common names Mason's Jacob's-ladder and Mason's sky pilot. It is native to California, where it has a disjunct distribution. It occurs in the Klamath Mountains as well as the ranges east of the Sierra Nevada, including the White Mountains, where its distribution extends just into Nevada. It is a plant of high elevations, growing in exposed, rocky mountain slope habitat such as talus and alpine fellfields.

<i>Thalictrum alpinum</i> Species of flowering plant in the buttercup family Ranunculaceae

Thalictrum alpinum is a species of flowering plant in the buttercup family known by the common names alpine meadow-rue and arctic meadow-rue. It is native to Arctic and alpine regions of North America and Eurasia, including Alaska, northern Canada, and Greenland, and it occurs in cold, wet, boggy habitats in high mountains farther south.

Trifolium andersonii is a species of clover known by the common names fiveleaf clover and Anderson's clover. It is native to the western United States, particularly the Great Basin and adjacent high mountain ranges, including the Sierra Nevada. It was named after Charles Lewis Anderson by Asa Gray.

<i>Bartsia alpina</i> Species of flowering plants in the broomrape family Orobanchaceae

Bartsia alpina is a species of perennial flowering plant, known by the common name alpine bartsia or velvetbells. It is found in the mountainous regions of Europe and also occurs in Iceland, Greenland and north‐eastern Canada.

<i>Alchemilla erythropoda</i> Species of flowering plant

Alchemilla erythropoda, the dwarf lady's mantle, is a species of flowering herbaceous perennial plant in the family Rosaceae, native to Eastern Europe. It forms a clump of hairy, palmate leaves up to 20 centimetres (7.9 in) high, with sprays of green-yellow flowers in early summer. The leaves of this and its relative A. mollis are noted for being highly water-repellent. It is smaller than A. mollis, however, and its leaves may develop a reddish tinge if grown in full sun.

<i>Alchemilla vulgaris</i> Species of flowering plant

Alchemilla vulgaris, common name Lady's mantle, is an herbaceous perennial plant in Europe and Greenland. These perennial wildflowers, members of the rose family, are sometimes grown in gardens - mainly for their leaves, which collect sparkling water droplets.

<i>Saxifraga rotundifolia</i> Species of flowering plant

Saxifraga rotundifolia, common name round-leaved saxifrage, is a flowering herb and alpine plant of the genus Saxifraga.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Flora of the Sierra Nevada alpine zone</span>

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<i>Astragalus mollissimus</i> Species of legume

Astragalus mollissimus is a perennial plant in the legume family (Fabaceae) found in the Colorado Plateau and Canyonlands region of the southwestern United States.

References

  1. BSBI List 2007 (xls). Botanical Society of Britain and Ireland. Archived from the original (xls) on 2015-06-26. Retrieved 2014-10-17.
  2. Gardner, Jo Ann; Holly S. Dougherty (2005). Herbs in Bloom: A Guide to Growing Herbs as Ornamental Plants. Timber Press. p. 79. ISBN   978-0-88192-698-9.
  3. 1 2 3 "Alpine Lady's Mantle". NatureGate. Retrieved December 24, 2013.
  4. "Alchemilla alpina - L." PFAF . Retrieved June 11, 2013.
  5. Helgi Hallgrímsson & Guðríður Gyða Eyjólfsdóttir (2004). Íslenskt sveppatal I - smásveppir [Checklist of Icelandic Fungi I - Microfungi. Fjölrit Náttúrufræðistofnunar. Náttúrufræðistofnun Íslands [Icelandic Institute of Natural History]. ISSN 1027-832X