Laser (plant)

Laser (Latin: Láser trílobum) is a monotypic genus of flowering plants in the Umbelliferae family (Apiaceae). The only species is Laser trílobum, an herbaceous plant, a Pliocene relict.

Botanical description
Perennial herbaceous plant, 30-120 cm high. Its stem is glabrous, branched, erect, with a blue plaque, covered with fibrous remains of dead leaves. Its leaves are two to four times triangular, also covered with gray scale. Upper leaves with a swollen sheath, lower leaves on long stalks, also with a swollen sheath. First order segments also on petioles; terminal segments up to 10 cm long and about 8 cm wide, three-lobed, rounded in outline, with a coarsely veined margin. Stomas are anomacitic and diacitic.

The inflorescence is a complex hemispherical umbel with 15-20 rays. It is 10-25 cm in diameter. The pedicels are 3-12 mm long. It has no carpels. The flowers are small, actinomorphic. Sepals are also small, lanceolate, quickly absent. Petals white, reddish, broadly lanceolate. Sepals are cone-shaped, shorter than the style. Style is bent, and 1-1.5 mm long. It blooms in June-July and gives fruits in July-August.

The fruit is 6-8 mm long and 3-5 mm wide, glabrous, smooth, oblong elliptic.

The chromosome number is 2n=22.

It is described from the Gorgany mountain range (Western Ukraine). Its type specimen is kept in London.

Ecology and spread
Laser grows in forests, edges, clearings, on limestone outcrops, on marl. It is usually found as a solitary plant or in small populations.

It is widespread in Eastern Europe, the Mediterranean and Anatolia. In Russia, it is widespread in the Caucasus, the Urals and the Central Black Earth Region.

Conservation status
Included in the Red Data Lists of Rostov region, Bashkortostan Republic, Kirov region, Mari El Republic, Penza region, Perm Krai, Samara region and Voronezh region. Earlier it was included in the Red Data List of Udmurtia. Also by the decision of the Lugansk regional council № 32/21 of December 3, 2009 the species is included in the "List of regionally rare plants of Lugansk region".

It is cultivated in the botanical garden of the Perm State University. There is also experience of cultivation in the Botanical Garden of Voronezh State University.

Taxonomy
Laser trilobum was first described by Carl Linnaeus in 1753 in his "Species plantarum", which laid the foundation for modern botanical nomenclature. Linnaeus placed it in the genus Laserpitium (Gladyschus) and appropriately named it Laserpitium trilobum. In 1795, the German botanist Moritz Balthasar Borkhausen separated it into the monotypic genus Laser, but did not provide a description. In 1799 the new genus was actually described in the book by G. Gaertner, B. Meyer and J. Scherbius. For a long time the genus included about 3 species, but nowadays it is again recognized as monotypic.

Synonyms
According to The Plant List, this species has the following synonyms:


 * Angelica aquilegifolia (Jacq.) Lam., nom. illeg.
 * Angelica triloba (L.) Desf. ex Steud., nom. inval.
 * Laser aquilegifolium (Jacq.) Röhl. ex Steud., nom. inval.
 * Laserpitium aquilegifolium Jacq., nom. illeg.
 * Laserpitium carniolicum Bernh. ex Steud., nom. inval.
 * Laserpitium trilobum L.basionym
 * Siler aquilegifolium (Jacq.) Gaertn., nom. illeg.
 * Siler trilobum (L.) Crantz

Species
, Plants of the World Online accepted the following species:
 * Laser affine (Ledeb.) Wojew. & Spalik
 * Laser archangelica (Wulfen) Spalik & Wojew.
 * Laser carduchorum (Hedge & Lamond) Wojew. & Spalik
 * Laser involucratum (Pall. ex Schult.) Spalik & Wojew.
 * Laser panjutinii (Manden. & Schischk.) Banasiak, Wojew. & Spalik
 * Laser stevenii (Fisch. & Trautv.) Wojew. & Spalik
 * Laser trilobum (L.) Borkh.