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Asarum marmoratum

(Marbled Wildginger)

Overview

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Vulnerable

Threat status

Interesting Facts

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Common Names

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Common Names in English:

Marbled Wildginger

Description

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Family Aristolochiaceae

Herbs, shrubs , rarely lianas, subshrubs , or trees ; root , stems, and leaves with oil cells . Leaves alternate; stipules absent; petiole usually present and well defined; leaf blade simple , usually pinnately veined, sometimes palmately 3-5-veined, margin usually entire, rarely 3-5-lobed. Inflorescences terminal or axillary , racemes , cymes, or corymbs, or flowers solitary. Flowers bisexual , zygomorphic or actinomorphic . Perianth usually with 1 petaloid whorl (in Saruma with 2 whorls: outer one sepaloid , inner one petaloid), mostly connate into distinct tube , cylindric to campanulate or subglobose; limb rotate, urceolate , cylindric, or ligulate , 1-3-lobed; lobes valvate . Stamens 6-12 (in China), in 1 or 2 series; filaments adnate to ovary (in Asarum) or style column (in Thottea) with anthers free , or filaments and anthers fully adnate to style column to form gynostemium (in Aristolochia) ; anthers 2-loculed, dehiscence longitudinal . Ovary inferior to superior, 6-loculed (in Thottea 4-loculed) ; carpels connate only at base or fully fused; ovules numerous , anatropous , usually in 1 or 2 series; placentation parietal . Styles free or connate, column 3- or 6-lobed (in Thottea 5-20-lobed) . Fruit a fleshy or dry capsule, rarely siliquiform or follicular . Seeds many; testa somewhat hard or crustaceous ; endosperm copious , fleshy; embryo minute.

About eight genera and 450 600 species: primarily in tropical and subtropical regions; four genera (one endemic) and 86 species (69 endemic) in China.[1]

Genus Asarum

Herbs, perennial , deciduous, rhizomatous , without aerial stems. Leaves alternate (sometimes appearing opposite because of crowding), 2-ranked; stipules absent; petiolate foliage leaves and sessile, triangular scale-leaves both present. Leaf blade membranous or leathery, pubescent at least abaxially and on margins . Inflorescences terminal on rhizome, flowers solitary; bracts absent. Flowers: sepals distinct , usually mixture of white, green, tan, red, or purple, proximally touching valvately and forming well-defined false tube , externally usually villous , inner surface strigose , smooth or with weak longitudinal ribs , never with network of low ridges ; vestigial petals present or absent; stamens 12, distinct; filaments longer than pollen sacs ; terminal appendage of anther well developed; ovary inferior, 6-locular; styles connate in column. Capsule fleshy , dehiscence irregular. Seeds ovoid , not winged , with fleshy appendage. x = 13.

Species ca. 10: North America, Eurasia .

The species seem amply distinct, but herbarium material can be difficult to key for several reasons. First, the diagnostic colors of some organs (especially of the connective and the inner hairs of the calyx) often darken on drying. Second, immature flowers and young fruit are superficially similar to mature flowers, but color and posture of floral organs may be different at those stages. For instance, posture of the distal portion of sepals at anthesis (whether erect , spreading , or reflexed ) is diagnostic for the species, but sepals in all species are erect in bud and in fruit. Third, as in Hexastylis, distortion of the flower in pressing makes it difficult to interpret calyx structure. In particular, the distinction between proximal portions of the sepals, which meet valvately to form a well-defined false calyx tube, and distal portions, which do not, is obvious in fresh material but often unclear in the herbarium.

The flowers of Asarum are predominantly self-pollinated, but they are occasionally visited by mycotrophic flies (K . L. Lu 1982).[2]

Physical Description

Species Asarum marmoratum

Rhizomes erect or ascending , deeply buried, internodes 0.2-1.5 cm. Leaves: petiole 5-20 cm, sparsely crisped-hirsute. Leaf blade almost always variegate with white or silver along veins, cordate to cordate-reniform, 4-14 × 3-12 cm, apex acute to broadly acuminate, rarely obtuse ; surfaces abaxially sparsely hirsute , adaxially glabrous or sparsely hirsute along veins, marginal hairs ± perpendicular to margin . Flowers erect or nearly so; peduncle 1.2-1.9 cm; false calyx tube subglobose, externally mottled red, sparsely to moderately hirsute, internally dark red, with purple hairs; distal portion of sepal erect or spreading at anthesis , 17-52 mm, apex filiform-attenuate, abaxially pale green, hirsute, adaxially tan or brownish green, rarely red proximally, puberulent with crisped purple hairs; pollen sacs 0.8-2.4 mm, sterile tip of connective on inner stamens dark red-brown, 1.2-3.8 mm, longer than pollen sacs. [source]

Habit: Forb/herb

Habitat

Understory of dry or mesic forests , or exposed rocky slopes or roadcuts; 200-1800 m. Asarum marmoratum is found only in the Cascades and the Siskiyou Mountains of southern Oregon and extreme northwestern California (M. R. Mesler and K . L. Lu 1990)[3].

Biology

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Reproduction

Duration: Perennial

Taxonomy

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Notes

Name Status: Accepted Name .

Last scrutiny: 15-Mar-2000

Similar Species

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Members of the genus Asarum

ZipcodeZoo has pages for 53 species, subspecies, varieties, forms, and cultivars in this genus:

A. asaroides (Ginger) · A. asperum (Ginger) · A. campaniforme (Kiwi Ginger) · A. canadense (Canada Wild-Ginger) · A. caudatum (British Columbia Wildginger) · A. caudatum f. alba (Long Tailed Wild Ginger) · A. caudatum Lindl. var. caudatum Lindl. (British Columbia Wildginger) · A. caudatum Lindl. var. viridiflorum M.E.Peck (Longtail Wildginger) · A. caudatum var. canadensis (British Columbia Wildginger) · A. caudatum var. caudatum (British Columbia Wildginger) · A. caudatum var. crassicarpus (British Columbia Wildginger) · A. caudatum var. viridiflorum (Longtail Wildginger) · A. caudigerellum (Ginger) · A. caulescens (Ginger) · A. costatum (Japanese Wild Ginger) · A. debile (Ginger) · A. delavayi (Chinese Giant Wild Ginger) · A. delavayi 'Sichuan Splendour' (Chinese Giant Wild Ginger) · A. epigynum 'Silver Web' (Taiwanese Wild Ginger) · A. europaeum (European Wild Ginger) · A. europaeum europaeum (European Wild Ginger) · A. europeum (European Ginger) · A. forbesii (Ginger) · A. geophilum (Ginger) · A. hartwegii (Hartweg's Wildginger) · A. hartwegii 'Marmoratum' (Marbled Western Wild Ginger) · A. hartwegii 'Sterling Silver' (Hartwegs Wild Ginger) · A. heterotropoides (Ginger) · A. hexalobum (Japanese Wild Ginger) · A. hexalobum var. perfectum (Japanese Wild Ginger) · A. hexalobum 'Asteroid' (Japanese Wild Ginger) · A. kumageanum (Asarum) · A. lemmonii (Lemmon's Wildginger) · A. longerhizomatosum (Ginger) · A. maculatum (Wild Ginger) · A. magnificum (Ginger) · A. marmoratum (Marbled Wildginger) · A. maximum (Panda Face Ginger) · A. maximum 'Green Panda' (Panda Face Ginger) · A. maximum 'Ling Ling' (Ling Ling Panda Face Ginger) · A. muramatsu (Wild Ginger) · A. muramatsui (Asarum) · A. naniflorum (Wild Evergreen Ginger) · A. naniflorum 'Eco Decor' (Wild Evergreen Ginger) · A. pulchellum (Ginger) · A. rigescens (Ginger) · A. sakawanum (Japanese Wild Ginger) · A. shuttleworthii 'Callaway' (Mottled Ginger) · A. sieboldii (Siebold Wild Ginger) · A. splendens (Chinese Wild Ginger) · A. splendens 'Quicksilver' (Quicksilver Ginger) · A. stellatum (Evergreen Japanese Wild Ginger) · A. takaoi (Japanese Ginger)

More Info

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Further Reading

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Notes

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Contributors

Data Sources

Accessed through GBIF Data Portal November 21, 2007:

Identifiers

Footnotes

  1. Liguo Fu, Nan Li & Robert R. Mill "Aristolochiaceae". in Flora of China Vol. 5 Page 246. Published by Science Press (Beijing) and Missouri Botanical Garden Press. Online at EFloras.org. [back]
  2. Alan T. Whittemore, Michael R. Mesler & Karen L. Lu "Asarum". in Flora of North America Vol. 3. Oxford University Press. Online at EFloras.org. [back]
  3. "Asarum marmoratum". in Flora of North America Vol. 3. Oxford University Press. Online at EFloras.org. [back]
Last Revised: 7/15/2012