Tithonia diversifolia

Taxon	Family
Tithonia diversifolia (Hemsl.) Gray	Asteraceae

 

Flower of T. diversifolia Credit: GD Carr	An area in Australia invaded by the plant Credit: Land Protection, Queensland Government

Common names: Tree marigold, Japanese sunflower, Mexican sunflower, shrub sunflower, sunflower

Synonyms: Mirasolia diversifolia Hemsl.

Life form: Herb/sub-shrub

 

Biology/Ecology:

Dispersal: Vegetatively from basal stem. Introduced by humans as an ornamental plant and for green manure in agriculture.

Reproduction: Sunflowers are up to 10 cm across. Petals are orange/yellow and 4-5 cm long. Produces many small seeds.

Herbivores: No information available.

Resistant stages: Seeds can be dormant for up to four months.

 

Habitat:

Native habitat: No information available.

Habitat occupied in invaded range: Disturbed sites, agricultural areas, roadsides.

Habitat requirements:

Altitude	Near sea level.
Light	Shade intolerant, requires full sun.
Temperature	No information available.
Annual rainfall	No information available.
Soil	No information available.

 

Distribution:

Native to Central America

Introduced range: Invasive in parts of southern and eastern Africa, Australia and many Pacific Islands. Introduced but not considered invasive in some areas of West Africa.

 

Impacts:

Ecosystem: Reported to be allelopathic. Dense shading below the plant inhibits growth of native seedlings. Rapid vegetative reproduction and the production of many light seeds allow the plant to invade a disturbed habitat very quickly. Also competes with crop plants.

Health, social and economic: Can invade agricultural land, competing with crop plants. Used in Africa as green manure due to its high phosphorous content.

 

Management:

Mechanical: Seedlings and saplings can be dug out. Cutting larger plants is ineffective as the plant coppices profusely.

Chemical: In Australia, registered herbicides for control of the plant are:

• Triclopyr (300 g/L) and picloram (100 g/L) at 350 millilitres per 100 litres water as foliar spray.

• Metsulfuron-methyl (600g/L) at 10 grams per 100 litres water plus wetting agent applied as spot spray.

• 2,4-D amine (500 g/L) at 4 millilitres per 1 litre water or 2,4-D amine (625 g/L) at 3 millilitres per 1 litre water applied as spot spray.

1.5% glyphosate in water is also reported to be effective.

Biological: No information available.

 

References:

Pacific Island Ecosystems at Risk (PIER), 2005. Available from http://www.hear.org/Pier/species/tithonia_diversifolia.htm (Accessed August 2006).

Muoghalu, J.I. and Chuba, D.K., 2005. Seed Germination and Reproductive Strategies of Tithonia diversifolia (Hemsl.) Gray and Tithonia rotundifolia (P.M) Blake. Applied Ecology and Environmental Research 3(1):39-46. Available from http://www.ecology.kee.hu/pdf/0301_039046.pdf (Accessed August 2006).

Land Protection Australia, 2006. Japanese sunflower. Land Protection, Queensland Goverment, Australia. Available from http://www.nrm.qld.gov.au/factsheets/pdf/pest/pp84.pdf (Accessed August 2006).

Macdonald, I.A.W., Reaser, J.K., Bright, C., Neville, L.E., Howard, G.W., Murphy, S.J., Preston, G., 2003. Invasive alien species in southern Africa: national reports & directory of resources. Global Invasive Species Programme, South Africa. Available from http://www.gisp.org/publications/workshops/SOUTHERN.PDF (Accessed August 2006).

 

Last updated October 2006

Back to Top

Back to Species Descriptions