Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-dzt6s Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-22T20:00:34.518Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

The Potential Allelopathic Characteristics of Bitter Sneezeweed (Helenium amarum)

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  12 June 2017

Albert E. Smith*
Affiliation:
Agron. Univ. Georgia, Griffin, GA 30223

Abstract

Research was conducted to determine the potential for allelopathy to occur in pastures infested with bitter sneezeweed. Aqueous extracts of bitter sneezeweed leaves reduced alfalfa and Italian ryegrass seedling growth as much as 50% at concentrations of 0.5% (w/v). Leaf extracts were more phytotoxic than either stem or root extracts and seedling growth was reduced more than seed germination. Bitter sneezeweed tissue mixed in potting soil at concentrations as low as 0.3% w/w reduced alfalfa seedling numbers by 43%, plant height by 26%, and foliage dry matter production by 54% compared to plants cultured in soil without bitter sneezeweed leaf tissue. The potential concentration of bitter sneezeweed leaf material in soil in the pasture ecosystem was determined to be 0.5% w/v in the liquid phase and 0.2% w/w in the solid phase. Alfalfa seedling growth was reduced by 70% when germinating seed were placed under a bell jar with a potted mature bitter sneezeweed plant compared to control seedlings. A potential exists for bitter sneezeweed interference with developing alfalfa and Italian ryegrass seedlings following fall interseeding into pastures infested with bitter sneezeweed.

Type
Weed Biology and Ecology
Copyright
Copyright © 1989 by the Weed Science Society of America 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Literature Cited

1. Anderson, R. C. and Loucks, O. L. 1966. Osmotic pressure influence in germination tests for antibiosis. Science 142:771772.Google Scholar
2. Bell, D. T. and Koeppe, D. E. 1972. Noncompetitive effects of giant foxtail on the growth of corn. Agron. J. 64:321325.Google Scholar
3. Dominguez, E. and Romo, J. 1963. Mexicannin I. A new sesquiterpene lactone related to tenulin. Tetrahedron 19:14151421.Google Scholar
4. Elsohly, M. A., Craig, J. C., Turner, C. E., and Sharma, A. S. 1979. Constituents of Helenium amarum. II. Isolation and characterization of heleniamarin and other constituents. J. Nat. Prod. 42:450454.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
5. Gressel, J. B. and Holm, L. G. 1964. Chemical inhibition of crop germination by weed seed and the nature of the inhibition by Abutilon theophrasti . Weed Res. 4:4453.Google Scholar
6. Guenzi, W. D., McCalla, T. M., and Norstadt, F. A. 1967. Presence and persistence of phytotoxic substances in wheat, oat, corn, and sorghum residues. Agron. J. 59:163166.Google Scholar
7. Hoagland, D. R. and Arnon, D. I. 1950. The water culture method for growing plants without soil. Calif. Agric. Exp. Stn. Circ. 347. 32 pp.Google Scholar
8. Hoveland, C. S., Allison, M. W. Jr., McCormick, R. F. Jr., Webster, W. B., Calvert, V. H., II, Eason, J. T., Ruf, M. E., Griffey, W. A., Burgess, H. E., Smith, L. A., and Grimes, H. W. Jr. 1981. Seeding legumes into tall fescue sod. Ala. Agric. Exp. Stn. Bull. 531. 24 pp.Google Scholar
9. Hoveland, C. S., McCormick, R. F. Jr., Little, J. A., Granade, G. V., and Starling, J. G. 1981. Growth suppressant chemicals for establishment of winter-annual forages on bahia and bermudagrass sods. Ala. Agric. Exp. Stn. Bull. 533. 23 pp.Google Scholar
10. Kingsbury, J. M. 1964. Poisonous Plants of the United States and Canada. Prentice-Hall, Inc., Englewood Cliffs, NJ. 626 pp.Google Scholar
11. Lucas, R. A., Rovinski, S., Kisel, R. J., Dorfman, L., and MacPhillamy, H. G. 1964. A new sesquiterpene lactone with analgesic activity from Helenium amarum. J. Org. Chem. 29:15491554.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
12. Lagerwerff, J. V., Ogata, G., and Eagle, H. E. 1961. Control of osmotic pressure of culture solutions with polyethylene glycol. Science 133: 14861487.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
13. Muller, C. H. 1965. Inhibitory terpenes volatilized from Salvia shrubs. Bull. Torr. Bot. Club 92:3845.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
14. Muller, C. H. 1966. The role of chemical inhibition (allelopathy) in vegetation composition. Bull. Torrey Bot. Club. 93:332351.Google Scholar
15. Muller, C. H. 1969. Allelopathy as a factor in ecological processes. Vegetation 18:348357.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
16. Putnam, A. R. and Duke, W. B. 1978. Allelopathy in agroecosystems. Annu. Rev. Phytopathol. 16:431451.Google Scholar
17. Rice, E. L. 1974. Allelopathy. Academic Press. NY. 353 pp.Google Scholar
18. Rice, E. L. 1979. Allelopathy — an update. Bot. Rev. 45:15109.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
19. Slayter, R. O. 1961. Effects of several osmotic substrates on the water relationships of tomato. Aust. J. Biol. Sci. 14:519540.Google Scholar
20. Smith, A. E. 1984. Evaluation of the allelopathic influence of certain pasture weeds. Proc. 7th Int. Symp. on Weed Biology, Ecology, and Systematics. Paris, France.Google Scholar
21. Steuter, A. A., Mozafar, A., and Goddin, J. R. 1981. Water potential of aqueous polyethylene glycol. Plant Physiol. 67:6467.Google Scholar
22. Tukey, H. B. Jr. 1969. Implications of allelopathy in agricultural plant science. Bot. Rev. 35:116.Google Scholar
23. Whittaker, R. H. 1970. The biochemical ecology of higher plants. Pages 4370 in Sondheimer, E. and Simeone, J. G., eds. Chemical Ecology. Academic Press, New York. 336 pp.CrossRefGoogle Scholar