Chromolaena odorata weed for the killing or shrub for the tilling?

摘要

The scientific literature has not been kind to the perennial shrub Chromolaena odorata. This flowering 'weed', indigenous to Central America, is now considered a pest for 1 3 crops in 23 countries (Holm and others 1977). In 1994, Gunasekera and Rajapakse wrote, 'Chromolaena odorata (L.) K&R (formerly known as Eupatorium odoratum) is one of the most troublesome weed species in plantation crops (coconut, oil palm, rubber, coffee and others)'. Indeed, the shrub has such a reputation that it has its ownperiodical, the Chromolaena odorata newslettet, which focuses on how best to control it. Last year Barbara Waterhouse (1994) wrote in this newsletter about the plant's arrival in Australia, 'Pre-emptive declaration of C. odorata, as a noxious weed several years prior to its discovery here (requiring destruction on site) enabled a rapid survey and eradication campaign to be mounted with co-operation between the Department of Lands and the Queensland Department of Primary Industries. Other Australian states where C. odorata poses a threat have also declared it a noxious weed.'