Today we are going to talk about a type of plant that belongs to the grass family and that is found in the Mediterranean basin. Its about lygeum spread. This plant belongs to the genus Lygeum and is the only plant that belongs to this genus. This makes it a typical monkey genus with only one plant. The common name is albardín and it is found in clay or loamy substrates.
In this article we are going to tell you all the characteristics, distribution area and curiosities of this plant.
Key features
It is a type of plant that usually develops on clay or loamy substrates, although it can also develop in gypsum or saline soils. It is easily confused with esparto. However, this plant is the species very tenacious stipa. He lygeum spread It is a type of perennial herbaceous plant and rhizomatous type. This means that it grows from rhizomes that spread underground. It can reach more or less 1 meter in height if all environmental conditions are adequate. It has a whitish yellowish green color depending on the area where it is located.
The stems form branch bones covered at the base with scales. They have quite elongated leaves and have a reed-like appearance. They are usually long leaves reaching more or less 50 centimeters long. Being rolled up and being very narrow, they help reduce water loss through perspiration. This makes this plant have a great capacity to resist droughts. Between the fact that they can develop in soils with a different structure and are resistant to drought, they become quite easy plants to spread.
It has a straight and unciform shape that makes them plants with a hard and tenacious texture. As for its flowers, they form a spikelet that is covered with long but silky ones and surrounded by a pod. They are usually between 3 to 9 centimeters long and they are like a paper-like spathe. The flower has no ornamental interest since it is not very attractive. If we observe this plant without its flower, it is easily confused with esparto.
Distribution area and habitat of the lygeum spread
This plant has a distribution area that extends throughout the Iberian peninsula, especially abundant in the Ebro valley. Its largest extension is found in the eastern part of the peninsula. From the east, south and the Balearic Islands is where we can find quite frequently the lygeum spread in Spain. In some provinces like Murcia This plant has been given a place name known as the albardinal.
Other places where this plant is found is along the entire southern shore of the Mediterranean Sea from Morocco to Egypt. As for its natural habitat, it is a species typical of the Iberian steppes. These are nothing more than ecosystems that are characterized mainly by the predominance of woody species under cut. These plants tend to settle under soils that are very poor in nutrients and with high levels of salinity.
The climate that supports this plant is the semi-arid Mediterranean. They tend to generate open, flat landscapes with gently rolling hills and the absence of trees. At most we see some developed shrubs but they are not similar to the Central European, North American or South American steppes where herbaceous plants predominate. The area where it develops in the Ebro valley are the saline lagoons that make it become an exclusive and endemic area.
Uses of lygeum spread
This plant has various uses in the paper industry. The courses are similar to esparto, but with a lower technical quality. In the past it was used in industry, but not much today. In Aragon it was used to cut leaves and they were thought to make ropes called fencejos. With these ropes the bundles of mees could be adapted after the harvest of the cereals.
Another use that is given to this plant is to be able to make mattresses or beds for soldiers. To do this, he focused on the leaves and made contractions. And to start, located in Almería, it was used to pack ceramics in boxes. In this way, the boxes could be protected from shocks during transport. Another similar use was given to it in Murcia, although in this case it serves to protect the melons during their transport.
Among the most prominent uses and similar to that of esparto, it was as pasture for sheep and goats. Due to its leaves and its characteristics, it could be used to make baskets. Its leaves were used in the manufacture of some utensils of traditional use such as espadrilles and ropes.among others. At present we know how flat this plant is in use due to more efficient technical aids. Therefore, there are no plantations of lygeum spread for industrial use.
Curiosities
The vegetal structure that this plant forms is called albardín. It is an area covered by open bushes in which this plant is the predominant. We can find in the albardín a mixture in mosaics with other plants such as the brush (salsola genistoides), the black box (artemisia barrelieri) or the immortelle or soup in wine (Lemon cesium).
This mixture of vegetation becomes a salt marsh since the soil has quite a lot of salinity levels. The albardinal is located in the highest area where they have a deeper water table. This area is considered poisonous soils. And is that these soils are rich in heavy metals and are located in small areas such as the mountains of Cartagena. This species is characteristic that it appears in perimeter areas and well accompanied by other species such as Anabasis hispanica, Salsola papillosa y Carthaginian Limonium.
As you can see, there are plants that grow easily and have some uses that are left over time. I hope that with this information you can learn more about Lygeum spartum and its characteristics.
