Small plants and flowers Flashcards
Leopard orchid Ansellia gigantea
largest orchidplant in Southern africa
delicate scented, yellow flower with brow dots- like a leopard‘s coat
EPIPHYTE (Aufsitzerpflanzen)- uses the tree for support and acess to light, not for food
velvet monkeys eat the seed and canes (Stängel)
Love charm ritual from Zulus: chew the roots or canes and spit the masticated bits out while saying the name of the person desired.
Poison apple / Solanum panduriforme
very common and widespread in grassland, savanna and woodland
fruits are poisonous, mostly when green, high quantities of solanine (Kartoffelgift)
Flowers in clusters along the branches, sometimes axillary or leaf-opposed; corolla pale to deep blue, mauve or purple, occasionally white, 1.5 cm in diameter, fragrant.
Fruit spherical, green, often striped or mottled with white, turning yellow to orange-brown when ripe.
medical use: roots: treat boils, coughs, piles (Hämorrhoiden)
mashed plant: constipation, when babies suffering from stomach problems
ointment from the plant for rheumatic pains
traditional beliefs: hunters wash themselves with an infusion of the roots to have a sucessfull hunt.
Impala lily /Adenium multiflorum
0.5–3 m tall
flowers: in WINTER, 5-petaled and may be red, pink, white, or bi-color
leaves : simple, waxy green with smooth edges, typically oppositely arranged in SUMMER
succulents
rocky dry areas and woodland
browsed despite their toxicity
has a milky latex with toxic alkaloids, specifically Cardiac glycosides
latex is used as an arrow poison and as a fish stunning poison.
String-of-stars /Helitropium streudneri
perennial herb
growing alongside one another in rows
inflorence is curved and sometimes forked
appear in summer
grassland
Mistletoe / Plicosepalus kalchariensis
parasite plant, grows particularly on marula trees and acacias)
inserting an absorbent organ into the trees vascular system
olive- green chlorophyll-endowed, elongated leaves, photosynthesise its own food
bright pink-orange flowers in winter, visited by nectivors, flowers burst open by contact to shower the visitors with pollen (cross-polination)
fruits are eaten, seeds are regurgitated or defecated immediately, or flesh is peck off and sticky seeds wiped onto a branch
fruits are used as birdlime
symbiotic relationships:
MUTUALISM: sunbirds and butterflies enjoy the nectar and pollinate the flowers. Frugivorous birds disperse the seeds
PARASITISM: sucks nutrients from the cambium layer of the host. advetitious roots bury themselves under the bark
COMMENSALISM: birdlime
Bladderwort Utricularia gibba
aquatic, carnivorous herb
insectivorous to compensate lack of nutrients in the water
roots free-floating with bladders that trap small animals
bladders are under negative pressure—> prey pushes past the roots —> trapdoors are set off, sucking the prey into it
long, grass-like leaves grow on the water surface
golden-yellow flowers all year round
Papyrus / Cyperus papyrus
perennial sedge , 2m high with long stems
adventitious roots form a floating mat on the edges of channels
inflorescences is a mass of spiklets
young stems are used to make woven mats, bundles are tied together for transport
young stems are eaten by the Bayeyi
Duckweed /Lemna aequinoctials
free floating plant, 2-3 leaves
roots vertical in the water
mats across pans with high nutrient content
Water gentian / Nymphoides indica
aquatic rooted herb
leaves float on surface, often making a carpet in channels
white flowers with hairs on the petal, yellow centre
Blue water lilie / Nymphaea nuchali
Yellow water lilie / Nymphaea lotus
flower only opens during the day
yellow ones prefer deep chanels, the leaves are markedly toothed
pygmy goose, wattle crane and humans feed on the seed
swollen rhizomes are dug out, peeled and eaten raw or cooked
Shona people put the leaves on the floor of graves to keep the body cool.
Yellow ottelia / Ottelia muricata
perennial plant, found in channels of the Delta
forming dense clumps
large obovate leaves
bright yellow flower floats
base of the flower has aswollwn, soft-spined sheath around
water stored in the flowers is used as eye drop
