Melampyrum arvense

Last updated

Melampyrum arvense
Melampyrum arvense brasles 02 19052002 6.JPG
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Asterids
Order: Lamiales
Family: Orobanchaceae
Genus: Melampyrum
Species:
M. arvense
Binomial name
Melampyrum arvense
L.

Melampyrum arvense, commonly known as field cow-wheat, is an herbaceous flowering plant of the genus Melampyrum in the family Orobanchaceae. [1] It is striking because of the conspicuous spike of pink or purple terminal bracts which includes the flowers.

Contents

The Latin specific epithet arvense means "growing in cultivated fields". [2]

Description

The upright stems of this species, which may branch, are terminated by a spike of pink to purple bracts amongst which the tubular flowers appear. Younger, lower bracts are green however, as the pink/purple colour appears and deepens only with time. The plant grows up to 40 or 60 cm high. [3] [4]

The ordinary leaves are lanceolate and opposite and may have short teeth. The bracts are also lanceolate and have long teeth up to 8 mm. [5] The flowers are two-lipped with a closed throat and are 2 – 2.5 cm long. They are pink to purple with a yellow or white patch.

Distribution, season, ecology

This European plant flowers from June to September. [3] [6] It is favoured by a dry habitat and chalky soil. [7] [8]

It is distributed throughout Western Europe except in central & southern Spain, southern Italy, Ireland, Iceland, Norway, central and northern Sweden, and northern Finland. Also its range extends east to the Ural Mountains and it is found in Turkey. In Great Britain it only occurs in a few locations in south-east England. [4] [5] [6] [9] It is becoming rarer, at least in Britain, France, Belgium, Germany, the Netherlands and Finland; this may be due to a reduced area of arable land and changes in farming practices, such as seed-cleaning and intensification. [4] [8] [10]

This species is hemiparasitic, commonly on the roots of grasses but also on those of other plants. It cannot flourish without a host from which to take nutrients. [4] In an experiment where the growth of M. arvense was compared on rye grass, alfalfa and flax, it was found to grow much the best on the leguminous plant, alfalfa. [11]

The flowers are pollinated by bumblebees. The seeds may be dispersed by ants which are attracted by a small oil body (elaiosome) attached to each seed and which carry them to their nests for food. [4] Like some other species of Melampyrum, on their undersides the bracts have minute nectar-producing glands which attract ants, bumblebees and other insects. These glands are violet in the case of M. arvense, are visible under a hand lens, and take the form of minute scales (about 0.45mm in diameter) which secrete a sugary solution. [12]

Human impact

Field cow-wheat is an annual weed of arable fields as well as a component of some natural grassy meadow ecosystems. The seeds are poisonous because they hold aucubin. [7] The plant is being targeted by some groups for conservation projects and policy. As with Yellow Rattle (Rhinanthus species), it is sometimes considered to be a valuable part of restoration projects by reducing the vigor, and cover, of grasses and legumes. This enables more forbs (wildflowers) to colonize the land, increasing diversity as well as the land's nectar and pollen production. It is also considered to have aesthetic value.

Related Research Articles

<i>Calypso bulbosa</i> Species of orchid

Calypso is a genus of orchids containing one species, Calypso bulbosa, known as the calypso orchid, fairy slipper or Venus's slipper. It is a perennial member of the orchid family found in undisturbed northern and montane forests. It has a small pink, purple, pinkish-purple, or red flower accented with a white lip, darker purple spottings, and yellow beard. The genus Calypso takes its name from the Greek signifying concealment, as they tend to favor sheltered areas on conifer forest floors. The specific epithet, bulbosa, refers to the bulb-like corms.

<i>Cirsium</i> Genus of flowering plants in the daisy family Asteraceae

Cirsium is a genus of perennial and biennial flowering plants in the Asteraceae, one of several genera known commonly as thistles. They are more precisely known as plume thistles. These differ from other thistle genera in having feathered hairs to their achenes. The other genera have a pappus of simple unbranched hairs.

<i>Lythrum salicaria</i> Species of plant

Lythrum salicaria or purple loosestrife is a flowering plant belonging to the family Lythraceae. It should not be confused with other plants sharing the name loosestrife that are members of the family Primulaceae. Other names include spiked loosestrife and purple Lythrum. This herbaceous perennial is native to Europe and Asia, and possibly Australia.

<i>Cirsium vulgare</i> Species of flowering plant in the daisy family Asteraceae

Cirsium vulgare, the spear thistle, bull thistle, or common thistle, is a species of the Asteraceae genus Cirsium, native throughout most of Europe, Western Asia, and northwestern Africa. It is also naturalised in North America, Africa, and Australia and is an invasive weed in some areas. It is the national flower of Scotland.

<i>Cirsium arvense</i> Species of flowering plant

Cirsium arvense is a perennial species of flowering plant in the family Asteraceae, native throughout Europe and western Asia, northern Africa and widely introduced elsewhere. The standard English name in its native area is creeping thistle. It is also commonly known as Canada thistle and field thistle.

<i>Dianthus armeria</i> Species of flowering plant

Dianthus armeria, the Deptford pink or grass pink, is a species of Dianthus ("pink") native to most of Europe, from Portugal north to southern Scotland and southern Finland, and east to Ukraine and the Caucasus. It is naturalised in North America.

<i>Tragopogon pratensis</i> Species of plant

Tragopogon pratensis is a biennial plant in the family Asteraceae, distributed across Europe and North America, commonly growing in fields and on roadsides. It is found in North America from southern Ontario to Massachusetts; most of England; on the eastern and southern edges of Scotland; and central Ireland but not the coastal edges.

<i>Lepechinia fragrans</i> Species of shrub

Lepechinia fragrans is a flowering herbaceous shrub known by the common names island pitchersage and fragrant pitchersage. It is a member of the Lamiaceae, or mint family, but like other Lepechinia, the flowers are borne in racemes instead of in mintlike whorls.

<i>Spiranthes spiralis</i> Species of orchid

Spiranthes spiralis, commonly known as autumn lady's-tresses, is an orchid that grows in Europe and adjacent North Africa and Asia. It is a small grey-green plant. It forms a rosette of four to five pointed, sessile, ovate leaves about 3 cm (1.2 in) in length. In late summer an unbranched stem of about 10–15 cm (3.9–5.9 in) tall is produced with approximately four sheath-shaped leaves. The white flowers are about 5 mm (0.20 in) long and have a green spot on the lower lip. They are arranged in a helix around the upper half of the stalk. The species is listed in Appendix II of CITES as a species that is not currently threatened with extinction but that may become so. Autumn lady's-tresses are legally protected in Belgium and the Netherlands.

<i>Echinacea purpurea</i> Species of flowering plant in the daisy family Asteraceae

Echinacea purpurea, the eastern purple coneflower, purple coneflower, hedgehog coneflower, or echinacea, is a North American species of flowering plant in the family Asteraceae. It is native to parts of eastern North America and present to some extent in the wild in much of the eastern, southeastern and midwestern United States as well as in the Canadian Province of Ontario. It is most common in the Ozarks and in the Mississippi/Ohio Valley. Its habitats include dry open woods, prairies and barrens.

<i>Echinacea simulata</i> Species of flowering plant

Echinacea simulata, commonly called wavy leaf purple coneflower, glade coneflower, or prairie purple coneflower, is a species of perennial flowering plant in the family Asteraceae. It is native to the east-central states of the United States. Its natural habitat is dry, calcareous, open areas such as barrens and woodlands.

<i>Stachys palustris</i> Species of flowering plant

Stachys palustris, commonly known as marsh woundwort, clown's woundwort, clown's heal-all, marsh hedgenettle, or hedge-nettle, is an edible perennial grassland herb growing to 80 centimeters tall. It is native to parts of Eurasia but has been introduced to North America. The species epithet palustris is Latin for "of the marsh" and indicates its common habitat.

<i>Agrostis capillaris</i> Species of grass

Agrostis capillaris, the common bent, colonial bent, or browntop, is a rhizomatous and stoloniferous perennial in the grass family (Poaceae). It is native to Eurasia and has been widely introduced in many parts of the world. Colonial bent grows in moist grasslands and open meadows, and can also be found in agricultural areas, roadsides, and invading disturbed areas.

<i>Calochortus albus</i> Species of flowering plant

Calochortus albus is a North American species in the genus Calochortus in the family Liliaceae. It is also known by the common names fairy lantern, white fairy lantern, pink fairy lantern, lantern of the fairies, globe lily, white globe lily, white globe-tulip, alabaster tulip, Indian bells,satin bells, snowy lily-bell, and snow drops.

<i>Succisa pratensis</i> Species of flowering plant in the honeysuckle family Caprifoliaceae

Succisa pratensis, also known as devil's-bit or devil's-bit scabious, is a flowering plant in the honeysuckle family Caprifoliaceae. It differs from other similar species in that it has four-lobed flowers, whereas small scabious and field scabious have five lobes and hence it has been placed in a separate genus in the same family. It also grows on damper ground.

<i>Agrostis gigantea</i> Species of grass

Agrostis gigantea, known by its common names black bent and redtop, is a perennial grass of the Agrostis genus.

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

Viscaria vulgaris, the sticky catchfly or clammy campion, is a flowering plant in the family Caryophyllaceae.

<i>Monarda bradburiana</i> Species of flowering plant

Monarda bradburiana, the eastern beebalm or Bradbury's beebalm, is a species of perennial flowering plant in the mint family, Lamiaceae, that is native to much of the southeastern United States.

<i>Felicia echinata</i> Shrublet in the daisy family from South Africa

Felicia echinata, commonly known as the dune daisy or prickly felicia, is a species of shrub native to South Africa belonging to the daisy family. It grows to 1 m (3.3 ft) high and bears blue-purple flower heads with yellow central discs. In the wild, it flowers April to October.

<i>Pedicularis palustris</i> Species of flowering plant

Pedicularis palustris, commonly known as marsh lousewort or red rattle, is a plant species in the family Orobanchaceae. It is native to central and northern Europe and Asia where it grows in wetlands and boggy habitats. The International Union for Conservation of Nature has assessed its conservation status as being of least concern.

References

  1. See the entry in ThePlantList.
  2. Harrison, Lorraine (2012). RHS Latin for Gardeners. United Kingdom: Mitchell Beazley. ISBN   978-1-84533-731-5.
  3. 1 2 Roger Phillips (1977). Wild Flowers of Britain. Cavaye Place, London SW10 9PG: Pan Books Ltd. p. 144. ISBN   978-0-330-25183-9.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location (link)
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 See the Arkive page Archived 2014-12-13 at the Wayback Machine .
  5. 1 2 A. R. Clapham; T. G. Tutin; E. F. Warburg (1981). Excursion Flora of the British Isles. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. p. 271. ISBN   978-0-521-23290-6.
  6. 1 2 Christopher Grey-Wilson & Marjorie Blamey (1996). Guide des fleurs de montagne. Paris: Delachaux & Nestlé. p. 252. ISBN   978-2-603-01009-9. Also in English as Christopher Grey-Wilson & Marjorie Blamey (1995). Collins Pocket Guide to Alpine Flowers of Britain and Europe. Harper Collins. ISBN   978-0-00-220017-2.
  7. 1 2 Dietmar Aichele (1975). A Field Guide in Colour to Wild Flowers. 59 Grosvenor Street, London W1: Octopus Books Limited. p. 228. ISBN   978-0-7064-0474-6.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location (link)
  8. 1 2 See the NatureGate site.
  9. See the TrekNature site.
  10. See the Online Atlas of the British & Irish Flora.
  11. Matthies, Diethart (1996). "Interactions between the root hemiparasite Melampyrum arvense and mixtures of host plants: heterotrophic benefit and parasite-mediated competition". Oikos. 75 (1): 118–124. doi:10.2307/3546328. JSTOR   3546328.
  12. See Emerich Ráthay (1880). "Über nectarabsondernde Trichome einiger Melampyrumarten". Sitzungsberichte der Kaiserlichen Akademie der Wissenschaften (in German). 81: 56. An English summary is at "Record of current research relating to Invertebrata, Cryptogamia, Microscopy etc". Royal Microscopical Society. 3 pt. 2: 982. 1880.