Dodecadenia
Encyclopedia
Dodecadenia is a botanical genus
with at least three species
of flowering plants belonging to the family Lauraceae
. It is present from central Asia
, to Himalayas and India. It is present in tropical and subtropical montane rainforest, laurel forest
, in the Weed-tree forests in valleys, mixed forests of coniferous and deciduous broad-leaved trees, Tsuga
forests; 2000–2600 m (6,561.7–8,530.2 ) in China in provinces of Sichuan, Xizang, Yunnan, and countries of Bhutan
, India
, Myanmar
, and Nepal
.
The genus was described by Christian Gottfried Daniel Nees von Esenbeck
and published in Plant Asiaticae Rariores 2: 63 in 1831. The type species
is Dodecadenia grandiflora Nees.
. The ecological requirements of the genus, are those of fog moisture precipitating almost continuously in a natural habitat cloud-covered for much of the year. These genus species are found in tropical forests, subtropical temperate evergreen, montane evergreen forests, which is a type of rainforest
or Cloud Forest
. An ecosystem
of great exuberance characterized by high humidity, no seasonal changes and with a wide variety of botanical and zoological species but also highly fragile against external aggressions. The temperate evergreen and evergreen forests are typically multispecies with evergreen and hardwood trees, reaching up to 40 meters in height. The forests are made up of laurel-leaved evergreen
hardwood
tree
s, harbouring a rich biota
of understorey plants, invertebrate
s, bird
s and mammalians. Dodecadenia require continuously moist soil, and do not tolerate drought, and like most of their counterparts laurifolia in the world, they are vigorous species with a great ability to populate the habitat that is conducive. Occur in woodlands only close to extreme moister areas. Dodecadenia is adapted from sea level to more than 2600 metres (8,530.2 ft).
It is in Himalayas and other mountain areas and is present in cool temperate zones in montane tropical and subtropical montane rainforest, laurel forest
, in the Weed-tree forests in valleys, mixed forests of coniferous and deciduous broad-leaved trees, Tsuga
forests; 2000 metre in China in the provinces of Sichuan, Xizang, Yunnan, and in the mountain areas of countries of Bhutan
, India
, Myanmar
, and Nepal
.
In the Indian Central Himalaya, the Dodecadenia laurel trees falls within the broad-leaved forests; mid-montane deciduous forests; and high-montane mixed stunted forests. The tree species growing to high altitude forests at 1500–3300 m (4,921.3–10,826.8 ). The upper limit of forests ranges from 3000 metre. Three taxa are commonly found at tree line: an evergreen, needle-leaved gymnosperm (Abies pindrow Spach.), an evergreen, broad-leaved sclerophyllous oak (Quercus semecarpifolia Sm.), and a deciduous, broad-leaved birch (Betula utilis
Don).
Vernal flowering is common at this elevation in Central Himalaya. In general, in their elevational distribution and structural-functional attributes, these high altitude forests are similar to other forests of cool temperate zones in Himalaya.
s evergreen
s, dioecious
with some species growing to 15 m (49.2 ft) tall.
The genus includes species of little trees.
Dodecadenia are dioecious
. Branchlets glabrous or covered with dense brown pubescence. The sheets are arranged alternate. They have mostly smooth, glossy, lauroide type leaves. Leaves alternate, pinninerved.
Leaves alternate; petiole 8 –, covered with pubescence; leaf blade oblong-lanceolate or oblong-oblanceolate, 5–10 × 2–3 cm, glabrous abaxially, long midrib pubescent adaxially, lateral veins 8–12 pairs, conspicuously reticulate-veined on both surfaces, base cuneate, apex acute or acuminate.
Umbels solitary or clustered in axils of leaves. The inflorescence
s are produced in the form of umbel
s solitary or clustered in leaf axils. 1 to 3 umbels. Clustered in leaf axils, 1-flowered. The flowers are unisexual. Male flowers: perianth segments 6 in 2 whorls, outer ones broader, inner ones slightly narrow and pubescent outside; fertile stamens 12; filaments pubescent, of 3rd whorls each with 2 large glands at base, of 4th whorls with
smaller glands; rudimentary pistil pubescent or glabrous. Female flowers: ovary pubescent or glabrous. Fruit ellipsoid, 10–12 × 7–9 mm, seated on discoid perianth tube; fruiting pedicel of 5 mm, stout.
The color of the flowers is pale yellow to yellow. The flower is male or female, actinomorfic. Present Inflorescences composed of flowers, with perigonium. Female flowers: staminodes 12 in 4 whorls of 3 each, 1st and 2nd whorls eglandular, of 3rd and 4th whorls each with 2 glands at base; ovary superior; style elongated; stigma enlarge with 6 tepals. The pollination
is done by bee
s and other insect
s.
They have berries named drupe
s. The seed is a drupe
varied in size and shape from oblong to ovate or date shape. The fruit is seated on the perianth tube. Seed dispersal
by vertebrate animals. The fruits are a very important food source for bird
s and other wildlife.
The wood is soft, light, and used for making plywood, packagin material, mechanical models, agricultural tools, etc. The branchlets and leaves may be processed for their aromatic oil and are used as material
for light industry. The seeds contain fat, which is used for making soap and lubricant.
Species
Genus
In biology, a genus is a low-level taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms, which is an example of definition by genus and differentia...
with at least three species
Species
In biology, a species is one of the basic units of biological classification and a taxonomic rank. A species is often defined as a group of organisms capable of interbreeding and producing fertile offspring. While in many cases this definition is adequate, more precise or differing measures are...
of flowering plants belonging to the family Lauraceae
Lauraceae
The Lauraceae or Laurel family comprises a group of flowering plants included in the order Laurales. The family contains about 55 genera and over 3500, perhaps as many as 4000, species world-wide, mostly from warm or tropical regions, especially Southeast Asia and South America...
. It is present from central Asia
Asia
Asia is the world's largest and most populous continent, located primarily in the eastern and northern hemispheres. It covers 8.7% of the Earth's total surface area and with approximately 3.879 billion people, it hosts 60% of the world's current human population...
, to Himalayas and India. It is present in tropical and subtropical montane rainforest, laurel forest
Laurel forest
Laurel forest is a subtropical or mild temperate forest, found in areas with high humidity and relatively stable and mild temperatures. They are characterized by tree species with evergreen, glossy, enlongated leaves, known as laurophyll or lauroide...
, in the Weed-tree forests in valleys, mixed forests of coniferous and deciduous broad-leaved trees, Tsuga
Tsuga
Tsuga is a genus of conifers in the family Pinaceae. The common name hemlock is derived from a perceived similarity in the smell of its crushed foliage to that of the unrelated plant poison hemlock....
forests; 2000–2600 m (6,561.7–8,530.2 ) in China in provinces of Sichuan, Xizang, Yunnan, and countries of Bhutan
Bhutan
Bhutan , officially the Kingdom of Bhutan, is a landlocked state in South Asia, located at the eastern end of the Himalayas and bordered to the south, east and west by the Republic of India and to the north by the People's Republic of China...
, India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
, Myanmar
Myanmar
Burma , officially the Republic of the Union of Myanmar , is a country in Southeast Asia. Burma is bordered by China on the northeast, Laos on the east, Thailand on the southeast, Bangladesh on the west, India on the northwest, the Bay of Bengal to the southwest, and the Andaman Sea on the south....
, and Nepal
Nepal
Nepal , officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal, is a landlocked sovereign state located in South Asia. It is located in the Himalayas and bordered to the north by the People's Republic of China, and to the south, east, and west by the Republic of India...
.
The genus was described by Christian Gottfried Daniel Nees von Esenbeck
Christian Gottfried Daniel Nees von Esenbeck
Christian Gottfried Daniel Nees von Esenbeck was a prolific German botanist, physician, zoologist, and natural philosopher. He was a contemporary of Goethe and was born within the lifetime of Linnaeus. He described approximately 7,000 plant species...
and published in Plant Asiaticae Rariores 2: 63 in 1831. The type species
Type species
In biological nomenclature, a type species is both a concept and a practical system which is used in the classification and nomenclature of animals and plants. The value of a "type species" lies in the fact that it makes clear what is meant by a particular genus name. A type species is the species...
is Dodecadenia grandiflora Nees.
Habitat
The genus was more extended in the TertiaryTertiary
The Tertiary is a deprecated term for a geologic period 65 million to 2.6 million years ago. The Tertiary covered the time span between the superseded Secondary period and the Quaternary...
. The ecological requirements of the genus, are those of fog moisture precipitating almost continuously in a natural habitat cloud-covered for much of the year. These genus species are found in tropical forests, subtropical temperate evergreen, montane evergreen forests, which is a type of rainforest
Rainforest
Rainforests are forests characterized by high rainfall, with definitions based on a minimum normal annual rainfall of 1750-2000 mm...
or Cloud Forest
Cloud forest
A cloud forest, also called a fog forest, is a generally tropical or subtropical evergreen montane moist forest characterized by a persistent, frequent or seasonal low-level cloud cover, usually at the canopy level. Cloud forests often exhibit an abundance of mosses covering the ground and...
. An ecosystem
Ecosystem
An ecosystem is a biological environment consisting of all the organisms living in a particular area, as well as all the nonliving , physical components of the environment with which the organisms interact, such as air, soil, water and sunlight....
of great exuberance characterized by high humidity, no seasonal changes and with a wide variety of botanical and zoological species but also highly fragile against external aggressions. The temperate evergreen and evergreen forests are typically multispecies with evergreen and hardwood trees, reaching up to 40 meters in height. The forests are made up of laurel-leaved evergreen
Evergreen
In botany, an evergreen plant is a plant that has leaves in all seasons. This contrasts with deciduous plants, which completely lose their foliage during the winter or dry season.There are many different kinds of evergreen plants, both trees and shrubs...
hardwood
Hardwood
Hardwood is wood from angiosperm trees . It may also be used for those trees themselves: these are usually broad-leaved; in temperate and boreal latitudes they are mostly deciduous, but in tropics and subtropics mostly evergreen.Hardwood contrasts with softwood...
tree
Tree
A tree is a perennial woody plant. It is most often defined as a woody plant that has many secondary branches supported clear of the ground on a single main stem or trunk with clear apical dominance. A minimum height specification at maturity is cited by some authors, varying from 3 m to...
s, harbouring a rich biota
Biota (ecology)
Biota are the total collection of organisms of a geographic region or a time period, from local geographic scales and instantaneous temporal scales all the way up to whole-planet and whole-timescale spatiotemporal scales. The biota of the Earth lives in the biosphere.-See...
of understorey plants, invertebrate
Invertebrate
An invertebrate is an animal without a backbone. The group includes 97% of all animal species – all animals except those in the chordate subphylum Vertebrata .Invertebrates form a paraphyletic group...
s, bird
Bird
Birds are feathered, winged, bipedal, endothermic , egg-laying, vertebrate animals. Around 10,000 living species and 188 families makes them the most speciose class of tetrapod vertebrates. They inhabit ecosystems across the globe, from the Arctic to the Antarctic. Extant birds range in size from...
s and mammalians. Dodecadenia require continuously moist soil, and do not tolerate drought, and like most of their counterparts laurifolia in the world, they are vigorous species with a great ability to populate the habitat that is conducive. Occur in woodlands only close to extreme moister areas. Dodecadenia is adapted from sea level to more than 2600 metres (8,530.2 ft).
It is in Himalayas and other mountain areas and is present in cool temperate zones in montane tropical and subtropical montane rainforest, laurel forest
Laurel forest
Laurel forest is a subtropical or mild temperate forest, found in areas with high humidity and relatively stable and mild temperatures. They are characterized by tree species with evergreen, glossy, enlongated leaves, known as laurophyll or lauroide...
, in the Weed-tree forests in valleys, mixed forests of coniferous and deciduous broad-leaved trees, Tsuga
Tsuga
Tsuga is a genus of conifers in the family Pinaceae. The common name hemlock is derived from a perceived similarity in the smell of its crushed foliage to that of the unrelated plant poison hemlock....
forests; 2000 metre in China in the provinces of Sichuan, Xizang, Yunnan, and in the mountain areas of countries of Bhutan
Bhutan
Bhutan , officially the Kingdom of Bhutan, is a landlocked state in South Asia, located at the eastern end of the Himalayas and bordered to the south, east and west by the Republic of India and to the north by the People's Republic of China...
, India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
, Myanmar
Myanmar
Burma , officially the Republic of the Union of Myanmar , is a country in Southeast Asia. Burma is bordered by China on the northeast, Laos on the east, Thailand on the southeast, Bangladesh on the west, India on the northwest, the Bay of Bengal to the southwest, and the Andaman Sea on the south....
, and Nepal
Nepal
Nepal , officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal, is a landlocked sovereign state located in South Asia. It is located in the Himalayas and bordered to the north by the People's Republic of China, and to the south, east, and west by the Republic of India...
.
In the Indian Central Himalaya, the Dodecadenia laurel trees falls within the broad-leaved forests; mid-montane deciduous forests; and high-montane mixed stunted forests. The tree species growing to high altitude forests at 1500–3300 m (4,921.3–10,826.8 ). The upper limit of forests ranges from 3000 metre. Three taxa are commonly found at tree line: an evergreen, needle-leaved gymnosperm (Abies pindrow Spach.), an evergreen, broad-leaved sclerophyllous oak (Quercus semecarpifolia Sm.), and a deciduous, broad-leaved birch (Betula utilis
Betula utilis
Betula utilis is a Birch tree native to the Himalayas, growing at elevations up to . The specific epithet, utilis, refers to the many uses of the different parts of the tree. The white, paper-like bark of the tree was used in ancient times for writing Sanskrit scriptures and texts...
Don).
Vernal flowering is common at this elevation in Central Himalaya. In general, in their elevational distribution and structural-functional attributes, these high altitude forests are similar to other forests of cool temperate zones in Himalaya.
Description
They are treeTree
A tree is a perennial woody plant. It is most often defined as a woody plant that has many secondary branches supported clear of the ground on a single main stem or trunk with clear apical dominance. A minimum height specification at maturity is cited by some authors, varying from 3 m to...
s evergreen
Evergreen
In botany, an evergreen plant is a plant that has leaves in all seasons. This contrasts with deciduous plants, which completely lose their foliage during the winter or dry season.There are many different kinds of evergreen plants, both trees and shrubs...
s, dioecious
Dioecious
Dioecy is the property of a group of biological organisms that have males and females, but not members that have organs of both sexes at the same time. I.e., those whose individual members can usually produce only one type of gamete; each individual organism is thus distinctly female or male...
with some species growing to 15 m (49.2 ft) tall.
The genus includes species of little trees.
Dodecadenia are dioecious
Dioecious
Dioecy is the property of a group of biological organisms that have males and females, but not members that have organs of both sexes at the same time. I.e., those whose individual members can usually produce only one type of gamete; each individual organism is thus distinctly female or male...
. Branchlets glabrous or covered with dense brown pubescence. The sheets are arranged alternate. They have mostly smooth, glossy, lauroide type leaves. Leaves alternate, pinninerved.
Leaves alternate; petiole 8 –, covered with pubescence; leaf blade oblong-lanceolate or oblong-oblanceolate, 5–10 × 2–3 cm, glabrous abaxially, long midrib pubescent adaxially, lateral veins 8–12 pairs, conspicuously reticulate-veined on both surfaces, base cuneate, apex acute or acuminate.
Umbels solitary or clustered in axils of leaves. The inflorescence
Inflorescence
An inflorescence is a group or cluster of flowers arranged on a stem that is composed of a main branch or a complicated arrangement of branches. Strictly, it is the part of the shoot of seed plants where flowers are formed and which is accordingly modified...
s are produced in the form of umbel
Umbel
An umbel is an inflorescence which consists of a number of short flower stalks which are equal in length and spread from a common point, somewhat like umbrella ribs....
s solitary or clustered in leaf axils. 1 to 3 umbels. Clustered in leaf axils, 1-flowered. The flowers are unisexual. Male flowers: perianth segments 6 in 2 whorls, outer ones broader, inner ones slightly narrow and pubescent outside; fertile stamens 12; filaments pubescent, of 3rd whorls each with 2 large glands at base, of 4th whorls with
smaller glands; rudimentary pistil pubescent or glabrous. Female flowers: ovary pubescent or glabrous. Fruit ellipsoid, 10–12 × 7–9 mm, seated on discoid perianth tube; fruiting pedicel of 5 mm, stout.
The color of the flowers is pale yellow to yellow. The flower is male or female, actinomorfic. Present Inflorescences composed of flowers, with perigonium. Female flowers: staminodes 12 in 4 whorls of 3 each, 1st and 2nd whorls eglandular, of 3rd and 4th whorls each with 2 glands at base; ovary superior; style elongated; stigma enlarge with 6 tepals. The pollination
Pollination
Pollination is the process by which pollen is transferred in plants, thereby enabling fertilisation and sexual reproduction. Pollen grains transport the male gametes to where the female gamete are contained within the carpel; in gymnosperms the pollen is directly applied to the ovule itself...
is done by bee
Bee
Bees are flying insects closely related to wasps and ants, and are known for their role in pollination and for producing honey and beeswax. Bees are a monophyletic lineage within the superfamily Apoidea, presently classified by the unranked taxon name Anthophila...
s and other insect
Insect
Insects are a class of living creatures within the arthropods that have a chitinous exoskeleton, a three-part body , three pairs of jointed legs, compound eyes, and two antennae...
s.
They have berries named drupe
Drupe
In botany, a drupe is a fruit in which an outer fleshy part surrounds a shell of hardened endocarp with a seed inside. These fruits develop from a single carpel, and mostly from flowers with superior ovaries...
s. The seed is a drupe
Drupe
In botany, a drupe is a fruit in which an outer fleshy part surrounds a shell of hardened endocarp with a seed inside. These fruits develop from a single carpel, and mostly from flowers with superior ovaries...
varied in size and shape from oblong to ovate or date shape. The fruit is seated on the perianth tube. Seed dispersal
Seed dispersal
Seed dispersal is the movement or transport of seeds away from the parent plant. Plants have limited mobility and consequently rely upon a variety of dispersal vectors to transport their propagules, including both abiotic and biotic vectors. Seeds can be dispersed away from the parent plant...
by vertebrate animals. The fruits are a very important food source for bird
Bird
Birds are feathered, winged, bipedal, endothermic , egg-laying, vertebrate animals. Around 10,000 living species and 188 families makes them the most speciose class of tetrapod vertebrates. They inhabit ecosystems across the globe, from the Arctic to the Antarctic. Extant birds range in size from...
s and other wildlife.
The wood is soft, light, and used for making plywood, packagin material, mechanical models, agricultural tools, etc. The branchlets and leaves may be processed for their aromatic oil and are used as material
for light industry. The seeds contain fat, which is used for making soap and lubricant.
SpeciesSpeciesIn biology, a species is one of the basic units of biological classification and a taxonomic rank. A species is often defined as a group of organisms capable of interbreeding and producing fertile offspring. While in many cases this definition is adequate, more precise or differing measures are...
- Dodecadenia grandiflora Nees
- Dodecadenia griffithii Hook.f.
- Dodecadenia paniculata Hook. f.