|
|
Character |
AWA |
SA |
|
Leaves |
Fine hairs giving a soft texture, particularly to younger leaves
Grey-green to dark green
Young leaves often purple, especially when growing in sun
Leaves often larger, more prominently ribbed
|
Largely smooth
Yellow-green when growing in sun, dark green in semi-shade
Young leaves often red, especially when growing in sun
Leaves generally smaller
 |
|
Stems |
Hairy, grey-green to dark green |
Largely smooth, yellow-green |
|
Flowers |
Pale lilac
Broader individual flowers
Bracts with sharp tips, lax around flower-head
|
White
Narrower individual flowers
Bracts with rounded tips, tight around flower-head
|
|
Crown |
Larger plants have underground ‘corm’ structure
|
‘Corm’ less prominent |
|
Growth form |
Branches more lax |
More upright growth form, especially young growth in dense stands |
|
Ecology |
May be more fire resistant, resprouting from crown
May be more adapted to tropical conditions
|
May be more susceptible to fire. Burning frequently kills large plants
May be more cool tolerant (Kriticos et al., 2005)
|
Photographic acknowledgements
All AWA chromolaena biotype photos courtesy of Colin Wilson, except for photo of corm from Joshi (2006). All SA chromolaena biotype photos courtesy of ARC-PPRI.
References
Kriticos, D. J., Yonow, T. and McFadyen, R. E. (2005) The potential distribution of Chromolaena odorata (Siam weed) in relation to climate. Weed Research 45: 246-254.
Joshi, C. (2006) Mapping cryptic invaders and invasibility of tropical forest ecosystems: Chromolaena odorata in Nepal. Dissertation, International Institute for Geo-information Science & Earth Observation, Enschede, the Netherlands.
Zachariades, C., Day, M.D., Muniappan, R. and Reddy, G.V.P. (2009) Chromolaena odorata (Asteraceae) and its biological control. In: Muniappan, R., Reddy, G.V.P., Raman, A. (Eds.), Biological Control of Tropical Weeds using Arthropods. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge. pp. 130-162. |
Chromolaena Homepage
What is Chromolaena?
Biological Control
Differences between AWA and SA chromolaena
Workshops
Newsletters
Expertise
Other invasive alien plants within the Eupatorieae & reporting of suspected sightings of C.odorata
Bibliography
Useful links |
