Empetrum and Related Plants

Suda J.

Empetrum plants are represented in the territory of the Czech Republic by two taxa (Empetrum nigrum, E. hermaphroditum). They belong to what are called critical species, which are very difficult to distinguish apart. Empetraceae represent a group of vascular plants globally very poor in species (3 genera with approximately 8 species). They are distributed in Eurasia and North and South America outside their tropical regions, but they are totally missing in Africa and Australia. The unique interrelation between flower sexuality and the degree of ploidy is typical of them - diploid plants have unisexual flowers and separated male and female plants; in the genus Empetrum, the flowers of tetraploids are bisexual. Empetrum fruits are used in a similar way to the berries of other Ericaceae plants, mainly for the high content of vitamin C and various sugars. They also serve as feed for many animals, especially birds.

  Tento článek získal ocenění: Cena Živy

p. 110