Halothamnus hierochunticus
Encyclopedia
Halothamnus hierochunticus is a species of the plant genus Halothamnus
, that is now included into the family Amaranthaceae
, (formerly Chenopodiaceae
).
40–50 cm high, with blueish-green branches. It smells unpleasantly like rancid butter. The half-terete leaves are linear to linear-triangular, and up to 30 (rarely 50) mm long. The flowers are at 6–13 mm distance from each other, 2,8-3,3 mm long, somewhat shorter than their bract
and bracteoles, with triangular tepals. The stigmas have a truncate apex. The winged fruit is 10–16 mm in diameter, their wings inserting in the middle of the fruit height. The fruit tube has concave sides with sharply prominent ridges (veins). At its bottom, a narrow prominent peripheral rim surrounds the large roundish pits.
In the lower parts of the plants, the fruits are heavier with shorter wings, in the upper part fruits are lighter with larger wings (heterocarpy.
. It grows in fields, where partly it seems to be a troublesome weed,, and on ruderal places like roadsides or ruins, on loess or sand, often on saline soils, up to 1500 m above sea level.
Synonyms
not synonym
Hebrew: אֵלֶנְיָה נָאָה
Halothamnus
Halothamnus is a genus of the former Chenopodiaceae that is now included into the family Amaranthaceae. The scientific name means saltbush, from the Greek ἅλς "salt" and θαμνος "bush"...
, that is now included into the family Amaranthaceae
Amaranthaceae
The flowering plant family Amaranthaceae, the Amaranth family, contains about 176 genera and 2,400 species.- Description :Most of these species are herbs or subshrubs; very few are trees or climbers. Some species are succulent....
, (formerly Chenopodiaceae
Chenopodiaceae
Chenopodiaceae were a family of flowering plants, also called the Goosefoot Family. They are now included within family Amaranthaceae. The vast majority of Chenopods are weeds, and many are salt and drought tolerant. A few food crops also belong to the family: spinach, beets, chard, quinoa, and...
).
Morphology
Halothamnus hierochunticus is an annual plantAnnual plant
An annual plant is a plant that usually germinates, flowers, and dies in a year or season. True annuals will only live longer than a year if they are prevented from setting seed...
40–50 cm high, with blueish-green branches. It smells unpleasantly like rancid butter. The half-terete leaves are linear to linear-triangular, and up to 30 (rarely 50) mm long. The flowers are at 6–13 mm distance from each other, 2,8-3,3 mm long, somewhat shorter than their bract
Bract
In botany, a bract is a modified or specialized leaf, especially one associated with a reproductive structure such as a flower, inflorescence axis, or cone scale. Bracts are often different from foliage leaves. They may be smaller, larger, or of a different color, shape, or texture...
and bracteoles, with triangular tepals. The stigmas have a truncate apex. The winged fruit is 10–16 mm in diameter, their wings inserting in the middle of the fruit height. The fruit tube has concave sides with sharply prominent ridges (veins). At its bottom, a narrow prominent peripheral rim surrounds the large roundish pits.
In the lower parts of the plants, the fruits are heavier with shorter wings, in the upper part fruits are lighter with larger wings (heterocarpy.
Distribution
The distribution area of Halothamnus hierochunticus extends from Lebanon, Syria, Turkey (SE-Anatolia), Israel and Palestine, Jordan, Iraq to western Iran. At two disjunct sites in Iran (Gilan and Fars) the species could have been imported as a weedWeed
A weed in a general sense is a plant that is considered by the user of the term to be a nuisance, and normally applied to unwanted plants in human-controlled settings, especially farm fields and gardens, but also lawns, parks, woods, and other areas. More specifically, the term is often used to...
. It grows in fields, where partly it seems to be a troublesome weed,, and on ruderal places like roadsides or ruins, on loess or sand, often on saline soils, up to 1500 m above sea level.
Taxonomy
Halothamnus hierochunticus (Bornm.) Botsch., Bot. Mater. Gerb. Bot. Inst. Komarova Akad. Nauk SSSR 18: 156, 1981.Synonyms
- Salsola hierochuntica Bornm.
- Salsola autrani Post. var. hierochuntica (Bornm.) Eig.
- Aellenia hierochuntica (Bornm.) Aellen,
- Aellenia autrani (Post) Zoh.
- Aellenia autrani (Post) Zoh. var. hierochuntica (Bornm.) Zoh., nom. inval
not synonym
- Salsola autrani Post
Hebrew: אֵלֶנְיָה נָאָה
External links
- http://flora.huji.ac.il/browse.asp?lang=en&action=specie&specie=HALHIE Halothamnus hierochunticus in Flora of Israel online (with photos)
- Schweizerbart Bibliotheca Botanica Bd. 143 Webpage