Centaurea solstitialis, the yellow star-thistle, is a species of thorny plant in the genus Centaurea, which is part of the family Asteraceae. A winter annual, it is native to the Mediterranean Basin region and invasive in many other places. It is also known as golden starthistle, yellow cockspur and St. Barnaby's thistle (or Barnaby thistle).[1]
Centaurea solstitialis is an annual herb from the family Asteraceae. During the vegetative stage it forms a rosette of non-spiny leaves, between 5–20 centimetres (2–8 inches) in diameter. As the summer approaches, it produces a flowering stem up to 1 metre (3+1⁄2 feet) in height.[2] The leaves at the base are lobed and range between 5–8cm (2–3in) in length, while the ones on the stem are unlobed and smaller.[2] Between May and October, the stem produces numerous spinous flower heads (capitula) about 12–16 millimetres (1⁄2–5⁄8in) across, containing between 10–50 yellow flowers, with spines between 1–2.5cm (3⁄8–1in).[2] Flowers within capitula are pollinated by insects and each capitula produces 10–50 seeds, some with and some without a pappus. It is an annual semelparous species, and will die after reproduction is completed, normally by the end of the summer.
Centaurea solstitialis is a weed also on its native European range (e.g., Turkey, Greece, Italy, France, Spain), consequently, it inhabits highly disturbed ruderalhabitats, being typically found on roadsides and cereal crop margins. After introduction in several parts of the world as an exotic species (e.g., Australia, Argentina, Chile, the United States),[4] it has developed local adaptations to the different habitats colonized,[5][6] and an incipient level of reproductive isolation between native and non-native ranges has been detected[7]—a case of ecological speciation.
Star-thistle is a valuable source of pollen, thus nectar for pollinators. Yellow star-thistle, a noted pest plant, is a major nectar source for many central valleys and foothill butterflies.[8] Star-thistle populates ground that has been abused: dry, compacted, or scraped clean. A plant with a taproot system, it has a crucial role in restoring the soil by bringing up vital micronutrients. Similar to many plants classified as 'weeds', they (in the words of Mark Schonbeck) "quickly establish in, protect, and restore soil that has been left exposed by natural and human-caused disturbances".[9]
C. solstitialis grows as a balanced part of the ecosystems 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. However, it has been introduced in several parts of the world, including Australia, Argentina, Chile, and the U.S.[4] In many of these non-native regions, where the particular array of natural biological controls found in the native regions do not exist, it has become an invasive species and noxious weed.
The yellow star-thistle 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 star-thistle 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.[10]
In California, yellow star-thistle was dispersed into agricultural fields and immediately took hold in the state's areas with a Mediterranean climate. 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 star-thistle 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.
After the turn of the 20th century, Spain, France, Italy, and perhaps Turkestan were also likely sources of the invasion's seed in California.[11] Since its introduction to California in the mid-19th century,[11] it has become a large-scale invasive species (noxious weed or invasive exotic) throughout 23 U.S. states. It currently dominates over 15,000,000 acres (61,000 square kilometres) in California alone.[13][14]
Most herbicides used for controlling yellow star-thistle are registered for range lands, 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 may be used. Pre-emergence herbicides used for yellow star-thistle 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 star-thistle. Controlled burning may also be used in conjunction with clopyralid application as an effective integrated approach to yellow star-thistle management.[16]
A yellow star-thistle 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.[18] Resistance was discovered to be conveyed by a single nuclear recessive gene.[19]
Picloram-resistant C. solstitialis has been observed which had cross-resistance to clopyralid, dicamba, and fluroxypyr, but not triclopyr or 2,4-D.[20]
Biological control
Specimen in California in autumn
Yellow star-thistle 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 insects have been released (one accidentally) to control the plant.[21][22]
Insects
Three species of weevil in the beetle subfamily Cleoninae effectively reduce seed production in the yellow star-thistle.
Yellow star-thistle 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.[23]
Yellow star-thistle 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.[24][25]
Yellow star-thistle 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.[26] This insect has failed to established dense populations in the United States.[27][28]
Yellow star-thistle 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.[29]
Banded yellow star-thistle gall fly (Urophora sirunaseva) produces larvae that pupate within a woody gall within the flower and disrupt seed production.[30]
Another gall fly Urophora jaculata was released in 1969 but never established.[31]
Fungi
A variety of the rust fungusPuccinia jaceae var. solstitialis, first released in July 2003 on a ranch in the Napa Valley, has shown promise as an agent against yellow star-thistle,[32][33] dramatically damaging leaves and hampering growth.[33] The rust causes widespread pathology in the leaves of the plant and slows its dispersal. The fungus Synchytrium solstitiale (Synchytrium of phylum Chytridiomycota) is also being considered as an agent of biological control.[34]
Grazing
Grazing by goats, cattle, or sheep can be effective in controlling yellow star-thistle.[35] Goats will eat star-thistle even in its spiny stage.[36] Because yellow star-thistle growth is particularly difficult to inhibit in canyon rangelands since its remoteness limits control options, goats and other herbivores have become an excellent option to curb the plant's spread. According to one study, grazing has decreased yellow star-thistle presence by 58% when compared to the study's controls. Subplots also showed a 94% decrease in seed heads after only three years of experimentation.[37]
Integrated methods
California researchers (Thomsen et al., 1996) tested mowing, controlled sheep grazing and subterranean clover plantings to control star-thistle growth. According to the researchers, subclover would help fill the void left by star-thistle populations.[38]
They compared subclover seeding, grazing, two mowings, grazing + mowing without subclover – and an untouched control without grazing, subclover, or mowing. Thistle seed production was 130 times higher where only one mowing was done, and 1,720 times higher where nothing was done, as compared to the area that had been grazed and mowed twice. Excellent yellow star-thistle control can be achieved with the combination of competing plants, mowing, and rotational grazing.[39]
Research
Although these biocontrol agents have proven somewhat effective at controlling Centaurea solstitialis, 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.[40] 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).[41][42]
Toxicity
Grazing of the plant by horses can cause nigropallidal encephalomalacia or "chewing disease", a neurological condition. The disease generally follows consumption of 60–200% of the horse's body weight over an extended period of a month or more, or 2.3–2.6 kilograms (5.1–5.7 pounds) of star-thistle per 100kg (220lb) body weight per day. Though star-thistle is most dangerous when it is the only plant available or is delivered as a contaminant in dried hay, horses may develop a taste for it and seek it out. Many other grazing species, including mules and burros, are not affected.[43]
Uses
Although the spines make the plant a pain to deal with, it produces a light honey.[2]
Centaurea is a genus of over 700 species of herbaceous thistle-like flowering plants in the family Asteraceae. Members of the genus are found only north of the equator, mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere; the Middle East and surrounding regions are particularly species-rich. In the western United States, yellow starthistles are an invasive species. Around the year 1850, seeds from the plant had arrived to the state of California. It is believed that those seeds came from South America.
Onopordum acanthium is a flowering plant in the family Asteraceae. It is native to Europe and Western Asia from the Iberian Peninsula east to Kazakhstan, and north to central Scandinavia, and widely naturalised elsewhere, with especially large populations present in the United States and Australia. It is a vigorous biennial plant with coarse, spiny leaves and conspicuous spiny-winged stems.
Cirsium arvense is a perennial species of flowering plant in the family Asteraceae, native throughout Europe and western Asia, northern Africa and widely introduced elsewhere. The standard English name in its native area is creeping thistle. It is also commonly known as Canada thistle and field thistle.
The Tephritidae are Uruphora one of two fly families referred to as fruit flies, the other family being the Drosophilidae. The family Tephritidae does not include the biological model organisms of the genus Drosophila, which is often called the "common fruit fly". Nearly 5,000 described species of tephritid fruit fly are categorized in almost 500 genera of the Tephritidae. Description, recategorization, and genetic analyses are constantly changing the taxonomy of this family. To distinguish them from the Drosophilidae, the Tephritidae are sometimes called peacock flies, in reference to their elaborate and colorful markings. The name comes from the Greek τεφρος, tephros, meaning "ash grey". They are found in all the biogeographic realms.
Centaurea calcitrapa is a species of flowering plant known by several common names, including red star-thistle and purple star thistle. It is native to Europe but is rarely found there, it is known across the globe as an introduced species and often a noxious weed. The species name calcitrapa comes from the word caltrop, a type of weapon covered in sharp spikes.
Carduus pycnocephalus, with common names including Italian thistle, Italian plumeless thistle, and Plymouth thistle, is a species of thistle. It is native to: the Mediterranean region in southern Europe, North Africa, and Western Asia; East Europe and the Caucasus; and the Indian Subcontinent.
Chaetorellia acrolophi is a species of tephritid fruit fly known as the knapweed peacock fly. It is used as an agent of biological pest control against noxious knapweeds, especially spotted knapweed.
Larinus minutus is a species of true weevil known as the lesser knapweed flower weevil. It is used as an agent of biological pest control against noxious knapweeds, especially diffuse knapweed and spotted knapweed.
Larinus is a genus of true weevils, comprising about 180 species, mostly in the Palaearctic region. Turkey appears to have a significant diversity of the group, with more than 50 species recorded in the Eastern part of the country.
Chaetorellia australis is a species of tephritid fruit fly known as the yellow starthistle peacock fly. It is used as an agent of biological pest control against the noxious weed yellow starthistle.
Eustenopus villosus is a species of true weevil known as the yellow starthistle hairy weevil. It is used as an agent of biological pest control against the noxious weed yellow starthistle.
Larinus curtus is a species of true weevil known as the yellow starthistle flower weevil. It is native to Southern Italy, Southern Europe, the Middle East and the Caucasuses. It is used as an agent of biological pest control against the noxious weed yellow starthistle in the United States.
Centaurea iberica, the Iberian knapweed or Iberian star-thistle, is a species of Centaurea. It is native to southeastern Europe and southwestern Asia. It is known elsewhere as an introduced species and a noxious weed.
Puccinia jaceae var. solstitialis is a species of fungus in the Pucciniaceae family. It is a plant pathogen that causes rust. Native to Eurasia, it is the first fungal pathogen approved in the United States as a biological control agent to curb the growth of the invasive weed yellow starthistle.
Larinus filiformis is a species of true weevil found in Armenia, Azerbaijan, Turkey, and Bulgaria.
Chaetorellia succinea is a species of tephritid fruit fly that was accidentally released in 1991 into the United States and had since become one of the major biological pest controls against the noxious weed yellow starthistle.
Cirsium perplexans is a species of flowering plant in the family Asteraceae known by the common names Rocky Mountain thistle and Adobe Hills thistle. It is endemic to Colorado in the United States, where it occurs in the Colorado and Gunnison River Valleys in the Rocky Mountains.
Larinus sturnus is a species of cylindrical weevils belonging to the family Curculionidae, subfamily Lixinae.
Meadow knapweed is a fertile hybrid between black knapweed and brown knapweed. It is also known by the common names of hybrid knapweed or protean knapweed. The taxonomic status of the species is uncertain, and meadow knapweed has been variously described as different species. The Flora of North America refers to meadow knapweed as the nothospecies Centaurea × moncktonii.
↑ Hierro, J. L., Eren, Ö., Khetsuriani, L., Diaconu, A., Török, K., Montesinos, D., … Callaway, R. M. (2009). Germination responses of an invasive species in native and non-native ranges. Oikos, 118(4), 529–538. doi:10.1111/j.1600-0706.2009.17283.x
↑ Graebner, R. C., Callaway, R. M., & Montesinos, D. (2012). Invasive species grows faster, competes better, and shows greater evolution toward increased seed size and growth than exotic non-invasive congeners. Plant Ecology, 213(4), 545–553. doi:10.1007/s11258-012-0020-x
↑ Montesinos, D., Santiago, G., & Callaway, R. M. (2012). Neo-allopatry and rapid reproductive isolation. The American Naturalist, 180(4), 529–33. doi:10.1086/667585
↑ Directorate, Government of Canada, Canadian Food Inspection Agency, Plant Health and Biosecurity (2012-03-15). "Yellow starthistle – Centaurea solstitialis L."www.inspection.gc.ca. Retrieved 2016-03-01.
↑ Fuerst E.P., Sterling T.M., Norman M.A., Prather T.S., Irzyk G.P., Wu Y., Lownds N.K., and Callihan R.H., 1996. Physiological characterization of picloram resistance in yellow star-thistle. Pest Biochem Physiol 56:149–161.
↑ Sabba R.P., Ray I.M., Lownds N. and Sterling T.N., 2003. Inheritance of resistance to clopyralid and picloram in yellow star-thistle (Centaurea solstitialis L.) is controlled by a single nuclear recessive gene. J. Heredity 94(6): 523-527.
↑ 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).
↑ 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), pp. 1525–1530.
↑ 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.
↑ 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), pp. 439–442.
↑ Fornasari, L. and C.E. Turner. 1992. Host specificity of the Palearctic 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
↑ 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
↑ 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
↑ 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.
↑ 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.
↑ 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
↑ Voigt K., A.V. Marano, & F.H. Gleason. 2013. Ecological & Economical Importance of Parasitic Zoosporic True Fungi. in: The Mycota: A Comprehensive Treatise on Fungi as Experimental Systems for Basic & Applied Research Vol. 11 Agricultural Applications. 2nd edition Eds: K. Esser & F. Kempken. New York: Springer pp. 243–270.
↑ Smith, L. 2007. Physiological host range of Ceratapion basicorne, a prospective biological control agent of Centaurea solstitialis (Asteraceae). Biol. Control 41: 120-133.
↑ 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
↑ Joseph M. Ditomaso; Guy B. Kyser; Michael J. Pitcairn (June 2006). "Yellow Starthistle Management Guide"(PDF). California Invasive Plant Council. Archived from the original(PDF) on 2016-09-17. Retrieved 2016-09-06.
Balciunas, J. K., and B. Villegas; "Unintentionally released Chaetorellia succinea (Diptera: Tephritidae): Is this natural enemy of yellow starthistle a threat to safflower growers?"; Environ. Entomol. 30: 953-963; pub. 2001.
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