Acis (kind)

See also: Acis (homonymy)

Acis is a botanical kind which gathers some Nivéole S.

There exist ten species of snow-flakes. Using the cladism and sequencing of the DNA, it was shown that the species Leucojum vernum and Leucojum aestivum , of the kind Leucojum , were more narrowly related with the kind Galanthus . The eight other species, more moved away, were consequently placed in the kind Acis , a kind which had been proposed since 1807, but had not been retained at the time.

Species

The kind Acis gathers 8 species of Nivéole S. These species which come mainly from arid mediums, are the endemic ones with Atlantic or Mediterranean distribution often very limited. Several enjoy for this reason a protection at the national or international level. Five flower in spring and three with the off-season.

  • Atlantic species :

    • the snow-flake of autumn, Acis autumnalis (L.) Herb., originating in the Western part of the Mediterranean region and Portugal, has washed white flowers of pink, which appear with of small number on fine stems from 15 to 20 cm. The thread-like and drawn up sheets, which appear in the course of flowering, persist until the next summer. The snow-flake of autumn has one long period of flowering (August at October). In North Africa, one meets the varieties oporantha , more robust with flowers with tepals with three teeth, and pulchella , smaller with white flowers.
    • the snow-flake with capillary sheets, Acis trichophylla Sweet pushes in North Africa and Iberian peninsula, where one meets it mainly in the dunes. This spring snow-flake with thread-like sheets has white flowers with pink purple (F. purpurascens ).
    • the snow-flake of Tangier, Acis tingitana (Baker) Lledó, A.P.Davis & M.B.Crespo, a rare spring snow-flake of Rif Morrocan, has broader sheets and white flowers into small ombelle final on a stem from 20 to 25 cm.

  • Mediterranean species :

    • the snow-flake of Nice, Acis nicaeensis (Ardoino) Lledó, A.P.Davis & M.B.Crespo is endemic will riviéra French (Is of Nice to the borders of will riviéra Italian), where one meets it up to 1000 m of altitude. It is a plant of small size (10 cm) to very narrow and folded back sheets, and to flowers of a pure white, recluses, sometimes by two, who open out in March - April. The snow-flake of Nice was formerly called Leucojum hiemal (snow-flake of winter), whereas it flowers in spring…
    • the snow-flake of Fabre, Acis fabrei (Quézel & Girerd) Lledó, A.P.Davis & M.B.Crespo, a taxon near to the precedent, discovered in 1880 by J.H. Fabre, was formally recognized like a new species only in 1990. This snow-flake has flowers larger than that of Nice, always recluses. One finds it only on the southern side of the Ventoux Mount, where three stations are known.
    • the snow-flake of Valence, Acis valentina (Pau) Lledó, A.P.Davis & M.B.Crespo meets in two disjoined areas: the south-east of Spain (area of Valence) and very locally along the Adriatic coast of Greece and Albania (subsp. vlorensis ). This snow-flake, which resembles that of Nice extremely, has with the off-season of larger flowers of a pure white on a more robust stem (20 to 30 cm) and folded back sheets.
    • the pink snow-flake, Acis rosea (F.Martin) Sweet, a miniature snow-flake of autumn (10 to 15 cm height) to solitary flowers with bands pink candy, is originating in the zones at low altitude of Corsica and Sardinia. It also flowers with the off-season.
    • the snow-flake with long sheets, Acis longifolia J.Gay ex M.Roemer is endemic rare North of Corsica (peninsula of Scandola), who resembles the snow-flake with capillary sheets. This spring species has thread-like sheets and white flowers.

Culture

  • Acis nicaeensis and Acis autumnalis , fairly rustic, requires a site hot and sheltered in rubble to thrive. The sheets, present almost all the year, can suffer from intense freezing.
  • Acis valentina , less rustic, must be planted in a sheltered and very sunny place.
  • Acis longifolia , Acis trichophylla and Acis tingitana , not very rustic, must, except in areas with the soft climate (southern of England or west of France), being cultivated in cold greenhouse.
  • Acis rosea , a delicate species reserved to the informed amateurs, is cultivated preferably in cold greenhouse.
  • Acis fabrei is not (still) in culture.

One can get the majority of these species in specialized producers, like Bolle-Jist in the Netherlands or Paul Christan in Wales.

External bonds

  • Nomenclature of the kind Acis

Sources

  • John E Bryan, Bulbs (revised edition), Timber near, 2002 - ISBN 0881925292
  • Katia Diadema, Frederic Médail, Laurence Affre, Herve Castagné, Franck Torre & François Bretagnolle, Ecology and demography off two endangered narrow endemic seedlings (Leucojum, Amaryllidaceae) in southern France , In: Arianoutsou Mr. & Papanastasis V.P. (eds.): Proceedings off the 10th MEDECOS - International Conference one Ecology, Conservation and Management. Millpress Publishers Science, Rotterdam, pp. 1-9, 2004.
  • Dolores Lledo, Aaron Davis, Manual Crespo, Mark Drives out, Michael Fay, Phylogenetic analysis off Leucojum and Galanthus (Amaryllidaceae) based one plastid matK and nuclear ribosomal spacer (ITS) DNA sequences and morphology , Plant Syst. Evol, 246 (3-4): 223-243.
  • Réginald Hulhoven, Of the Cousins of the Snowdrops - the Snow-flakes , Gardens of Eden, 21:130 - 133, 2005

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