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{{Commons|Centaurea Solstitialis}}
{{Commons|Centaurea Solstitialis}}
==External links==
==External links==
* [http://www.invasivespeciesinfo.gov/plants/yellowstar.shtml Species Profile- Yellow Star Thistle (''Centaurea solstitialis'' L.)], National Invasive Species Information Center, [[United States National Agricultural Library]]. Lists general information and resources for yellow star thistle.
*[http://calphotos.berkeley.edu/cgi/img_query?query_src=ucjeps&where-genre=Plant&where-taxon=Centaurea+solstitialis Images from the CalPhotos archive] from a [[University of California, Berkeley]] website
*[http://calphotos.berkeley.edu/cgi/img_query?query_src=ucjeps&where-genre=Plant&where-taxon=Centaurea+solstitialis Images from the CalPhotos archive] from a [[University of California, Berkeley]] website
*http://www.cal-ipc.org/symposia/archive/pdf/2007/4.1biocontrol-smith.pdf
*http://www.cal-ipc.org/symposia/archive/pdf/2007/4.1biocontrol-smith.pdf

Revision as of 14:13, 15 February 2011

Centaurea
Yellow Starthistle
Scientific classification
Kingdom:
Plantae
(unranked):
Angiosperms
(unranked):
Eudicots
(unranked):
Asterids
Order:
Asterales
Family:
Asteraceae
Tribe:
Cynareae
Genus:
Centaurea
Species:
C. solstitialis
Binomial name
Centaurea solstitialis

Centaurea solstitialis (yellow starthistle) is a member of the Asteraceae family, native to the Mediterranean Basin region. The plant, also known as golden starthistle, yellow cockspur and St. Barnaby's thistle (or Barnaby thistle)[1] is a thorny winter annual in the knapweed genus.

It is a grayish-green plant with multiple rigid stems that extend in all directions from the base, forming a bushy-looking cluster that can reach two meters in height and more than that in diameter. It produces bright yellow flowers ringed with long, sharp spines. The plant grows quickly and is very competitive. It bears a taproot that can reach a meter deep into the soil, allowing it to thrive during dry, hot summers. It is versatile in its growth patterns, and can adapt to drought or low soil moisture content by producing smaller plants with fewer seeds during dry years.

Since its introduction to California in the mid-nineteenth century,[2] it has become a large-scale invasive species (noxious weed or invasive exotic) throughout twenty three states, currently dominating over 15,000,000 acres (61,000 km2) in California alone.[3][4]

Similar species

Red Star thistle Centaurea calcitrapa (see article for further description), and Rough Star-thistle Centaurea aspera.[5]

Invasive species

Centaurea solstitialis grows as a balanced part of the ecology in Eurasia, where it is kept in check by an assortment of natural herbivore enemies and other plants that have co-evolved with it in its native habitat (see co-evolution). In regions of North America, without these natural biological controls, it has become an invasive species.

The introduction of Yellow Starthistle in North America probably occurred in California sometime after the start of the California Gold Rush, as a fodder seed contaminant in imported Chilean-harvested Alfalfa seed, also known as Chilean Clover (Trifolium macraei).[2] After the turn of the 20th century, Spain, France, Italy, and perhaps Turkestan were also likely sources of the invasion's seed.[2]

Yellow starthistle was dispersed into agricultural fields in California, and immediately took hold in the state's Mediterranean-type climate areas. Human factors such as mowing, land grading for development and roads, domestic animal grazing, and disturbance of the soil surface for agricultural tillage and wildland firebreaks have and continue to contribute to the successful thriving and spread of this plant. Yellow starthistle is now a very common sight in vacant lots and fields, along roadsides and trails,in pastures and ranch lands, and in parks, open-space preserves and natural areas.

By 1970,[4] yellow starthistle had reached 23 states.[2] According to the USDA Forest Service,[6] as of 2006 the plant has been reported present in 41 of the 48 contiguous U.S. states, with the only exceptions being Maine, Vermont, and five of the Deep South states (Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, and Georgia). The plant is considered an invasive species in six of the 41 states: California, Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Utah, and New Jersey.

The Yellow starthistle plant has the ability to create monotypic stands and habitats in the cultivated soil of fields, graded dirt sites, and disturbed natural ecosystem lands. Its colonization eliminates and prevents other plant species from growing terminating the habitat's biodiversity. Extensive spreading monotypic fields of yellow starthistle are not uncommon. Its growth plasticity, competitiveness, preference for the Mediterranean climate, and a lack of natural herbivore enemies and co-evolved species, make it a very successful invader. The plant is an invasive pest in field crops, degrades native plant habitats and natural ecosystems, prevents the grazing of domestic animals in rangelands, and is a physical barrier to indigenous animal movement in wildlands.[7]

Toxicity

Yellow starthistle is a plant toxic to horses, causing chewing disease.[8]

Chemical control

Most herbicides used for controlling Yellow Starthistle are registered for rangelands, right-of-way and other non-crop areas. Many auxin-like or growth-regulator herbicides are used for post-emergence control, including 2,4-D, aminopyralid, clopyralid, dicamba, picloram and triclopyr. Alternatively, glyphosate (ie: 'Round-Up') may be used. Pre-emergence herbicides used for yellow starthistle control include chlorsulfuron and sulfometuron. Pre-emergence and post-emergence herbicides may be used effectively together to kill growing plants as well as any new seedlings that may emerge from the copious soil seed bank often produced by yellow starthistle. Controlled burning may also be used in conjunction with clopyralid application as an effective integrated approach to yellow starthistle management.[9]

A yellow starthistle biotype resistant to picloram was discovered in a pasture near Dayton Ohio in 1988. This biotype was determined to have cross resistance to other auxin-like herbicides, especially clopyralid [10] Resistance was discovered to be conveyed by a single nuclear recessive gene.[11]

Biological control

C. solstitialis in California, autumn 2007.

Yellow starthistle is sometimes resistant to removal methods such as mowing and burning, because of its long root system and the seeds' ability to withstand fire. The plant has been the target of biological pest control programs with positive results. Seven types of seed-feeding insect have been released (one accidentally) to control the plant.[12][13]

  • Three species of weevil in the beetle subfamily Cleoninae effectively reduce seed production in the yellow starthistle.
    • Yellow starthistle bud weevil (Bangasternus orientalis) is a fuzzy brown weevil that lays its eggs in the flowers, and when its larvae hatch, they feed on the developing seed.[14]
    • Yellow starthistle hairy weevil (Eustenopus villosus) is a long-snouted, hairy-looking weevil that lays a single egg inside each flower bud. The larva then consumes the seeds within.[15][16]
    • Yellow starthistle flower weevil (Larinus curtus) is a brownish weevil that lays eggs in the flowers as it feeds on the pollen. The larvae then eat the seeds when they hatch.[17] This insect has failed to established dense populations in the United States.[18][19]
  • Four species of tephritid fruit fly also attack the seedheads of yellow starthistle.
    • Yellow starthistle peacock fly and false peacock fly (Chaetorellia australis and Chaetorellia succinea, respectively, the latter released unintentionally) are small nectar-feeding flies that deposit eggs into the seedheads, where their larvae consume the seeds and flower ovaries.[20]
    • Banded yellow starthistle gall fly (Urophora sirunaseva) produces larvae that pupate within a woody gall within the flower and disrupt seed production.[21]
    • Another gall fly Urophora jaculata was released in 1969 but never established.[22]

Additionally, a variety of the rust fungus Puccinia jaceae var. solstitialis, first released in July 2003 on a ranch in the Napa Valley, has shown promise as an agent against yellow starthistle.[23] The rust causes widespread pathology in the leaves of the plant and slow its dispersal.

Although these biocontrol agents have proven somewhat effective at controlling starthistle, there is interest in finding additional agents to further control the species. Two weevils, including Larinus filiformis, a flowerhead feeding weevil, and Ceratapion basicorne (Illiger) (Coleoptera: Apionidae), which develops in the root crown of rosettes have been evaluated and proposed for introduction.[24] Also under evaluation are a stem-feeding flea beetle Psylliodes chalcomera (Illiger) (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae) (Cristofaro et al. 2004a), a lacebug Tingis grisea Germar (Heteroptera: Tingidae), and a mite Aceria solstitialis de Lillo (Acari: Eriophyidae). (de Lillo et al. 2003).[25]

Grazing animals

Cattle, sheep, and goats can also be effective in controlling starthistle. [26] Goats will eat starthistle even in its spiny stage. [27]

References

  1. ^ DiTomaso, J (2001). "Element Stewarship Asbtract for Centaurea solstitialis" (PDF). The Nature Conservancy. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2007-02-21. Retrieved 2007-06-01.
  2. ^ a b c d Yellow Starthistle Information from a University of California, Davis (UCD) website
  3. ^ Template:PDFlink, Mount Diablo Interpretive Association. Retrieved on 2008-10-15.
  4. ^ a b 1970 distibution of yellow starthistle in the U.S., a map from UCD's Yellow Starthistle Information website
  5. ^ Rose, Francis (1981). The Wild Flower Key. Frederick Warne & Co. pp. 386–387. ISBN 0-7232-2419-6.
  6. ^ Template:PDFlink, USDA Forest Service. Retrieved on 2008-10-15.
  7. ^ Yellow Starthistle species profile from the U.S. Department of Agriculture National Invasive Species Information Center
  8. ^ http://wric.ucdavis.edu/yst/impacts/impacts.html#toxic
  9. ^ http://www.ipm.ucdavis.edu/PMG/PESTNOTES/pn7402.html UC IPM Online
  10. ^ Fuerst EP, Sterling TM, Norman MA, Prather TS, Irzyk GP, Wu Y, Lownds NK, and Callihan RH, 1996. Physiological characterization of picloram resistance in yellow starthistle. Pest Biochem Physiol 56:149–161.
  11. ^ Sabba RP, Ray IM, Lownds N and Sterling TN. 2003. Inheritance of resistance to clopyralid and picloram in yellow starthistle (Centaurea solstitialis L.) is controlled by a single nuclear recessive gene. J. Heredity 94(6): 523-527.
  12. ^ Biology and Biological control of Yellow Starthistle
  13. ^ Pitcairn, M. J., B.Villegas, D. M. Woods, R. Yacoub, and D. B. Joley. 2008. Evaluating implementation success for seven seed head insects on Centaurea solstitialis in California, USA, pp. 610-616. In M. H. Julien, R. Sforza, M. C. Bon, H. C. Evans, P. E. Hatcher, H. L. Hinz, and B. G. Rector (eds.), Proceedings of the XII International Symposium on Biological Control of Weeds. La Grande Motte, Montpellier, France (in press).
  14. ^ Campobasso, G.; Sobhian, R.; Knutson, L.; Terragitti, G. 1998. Host specificity of Bangasternus orientalis Capiomont (Coleoptera: Curculionidae) introduced into the United States for biological control of yellow starthistle (Centaurea solstitialis L., Asteraceae: Carduae). Environmental entomology,. v. 27 (6), p. 1525-1530.
  15. ^ Fornasari, L., and R. Sobhain. 1993. Life history of Eustenopus villosus (Coleoptera’ Curculionidae), a promising biological control agent for yellow starthistle. Environ. Entomol. 22: 684-692.
  16. ^ Connett, J.F.; Wilson, L.M.; McCaffrey, J.P.; Harmon, B.L. 2001. Phenological synchrony of Eustenopus villosus (Coleoptera: Curculionidae) with Centaurea solstitialis in Idaho. Environmental entomology, v. 30 (2), p. 439-442.
  17. ^ Fornasari, L. and C.E. Turner. 1992. Host specificity of the Paleartic weevil Larinus curtus Hochut (Coleoptera: Curculionidae), a natural enemy of Centaurea solstitialis L. (Asteraceae: Cardueae). In: Proceedings of the Eighth International Symposium on Biological Control of Weeds. 2–7 February 1992. Lincoln University, Canter- 1bury, New Zealand, 385-391
  18. ^ Pitcairn, M. J., G. L. Piper, and E. M. Coombs. 2004. Yellow starthistle, pp. 421-435. In E. M. Coombs, J. K. Clark, G. L. Piper, and A. F. Cofrancesco, Jr. (eds.), Biological control of invasive plants in the United States. Oregon State University Press, Corvallis, OR
  19. ^ Pitcairn, M. J., D. M. Woods, and V. Popescu. 2005. Update on the long-term monitoring of the combined impact of biological control insects on yellow starthistle, pp. 27-30. In D. M. Woods (ed.), Biological control program annual summary, 2004. California Department of Food and Agriculture, Plant Health and Pest Prevention Services, Sacramento, CA
  20. ^ Turner, C.E., G.L. Piper and E.M. Coombs. 1996. Chaetorellia australis (Diptera: Tephritidae) for biological control of yellow starthistle, Centaurea solstitialis (Compositae), in the western USA: establishment and seed destruction. Bull. Entomol. Res. 86: 1 77-182.
  21. ^ Sobhian, R. 1993. Life history and host specificity of Urophora sirunaseva (Herng)(Dipt., Tephritidae), an agent for biological control of yellow starthistle, with remarks on the host plant. J. Appl. Entomol. 116: 381-390.
  22. ^ Turner, C.E., Johnson, J.B., McCaffrey, J.P., 1994. Yellow starthistle, Centaurea solstitialis L. (Asteraceae). In: Nechols, J.R. (Ed.), Biological Control in the U.S. Western Region: Accomplishments and Benefits of Regional Research Project W-84 (1964-1989). Division of Agriculture and Natural Research, University of California, Berkeley, pp. 274–279
  23. ^ Fungus Unleashed To Combat Yellow Starthistle from the U.S. Department of Agriculture website
  24. ^ Smith, L. 2007. Physiological host range of Ceratapion basicorne, a prospective biological control agent of Centaurea solstitialis (Asteraceae). Biol. Control 41: 120-133.
  25. ^ Smith, L. 2004. Prospective new agents for biological control of yellow starthistle, pp. 136-138. Proceedings 56th Annual California Weed Science Society, 12–14 January 2004, Sacramento, CA
  26. ^ http://wric.ucdavis.edu/yst/manage/management3.html
  27. ^ http://www.ipm.ucdavis.edu/PMG/PESTNOTES/pn7402.html
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