Description: S. Asiatica Is Not A Conspicuous Weed It Had Spread To Infest Almost 200,000 Hectares Before Being

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S. asiatica is not a conspicuous weed; it had spread to infest almost 200,000 hectares before being
noticed in the USA. There is nothing about the shoot system of S. asiatica to suggest that it is a
parasite. The height of the weed is variable, but rarely exceeds 30-40 cm, while some forms may be
no more than a few centimetres high. Most other morphological characters are also variable. In
vigorous plants there may be many branches, while small individuals or ecotypes may be
unbranched. Length of the normal-looking green leaves may vary from 1 to 5 cm but leaf shape is
generally narrowly lanceolate. Stem and leaves are sparsely covered in scabrid hairs.
Flowers are arranged in many-flowered terminal and axillary inflorescences, each sessile flower
subtended by a small leafy bract and two minute bracteoles. The calyx is tubular, about 5 mm long,
with ribs corresponding to the midribs and between adjacent segments, basically 10 in number, but
an additional rib or ribs usually develop in some or all of the calyces, to give commonly 11 to 14 ribs,
but never the consistent 15 seen in e.g. S. angustifolia. The corolla is also tubular, about twice the
length of the calyx and with a sharp bend just below the expanded lobes, across which the width is
usually 5 to 10 mm. Five stamens are attached within the corolla tube and there is a single style with
a small round stigma, mounted on a capsule, about 5 mm long, containing several hundred seeds.
Each seed is about 0.3 mm long and only weighs about 5 g. These seeds can survive in soil for at
least
10
years
and
some
reports
suggest
longevity
up
to
20
years.
Flower colour is highly varied in S. asiatica. The forms attacking crops in South Africa and East
Africa are generally red-flowered, with a yellow-flowered variant also present in some localities, while
those in the Indian sub-continent and Myanmar are almost invariably white. Both red- and whiteflowered forms attack crops in Arabia. Yellow-flowered forms attack crops sporadically in West Africa
and South-East Asia including Thailand, Indonesia and China. The weed may exist in several
different forms within a single region, though usually showing a different host range. Small, almost
leafless, yellow-flowered forms occur commonly on wild hosts in Africa, while very small, pink and
deep purple-flowered forms occur in India and South-East Asia. The range of colour forms is further
documented
by
Cochrane
and
Press
(1997).
While there is nothing obviously parasitic about the shoot system, the root system is relatively
rudimentary and highly specialized. The radicle of the seedling penetrates a host and forms a
primary haustorium less than 1 mm in diameter. As it develops, the seedling produces adventitious
roots from the axils of lower scale leaves which ramify and form secondary haustoria on contact with
other host roots. While numerous, these roots are quite fragile and break easily when the plant is
uprooted, leaving an almost rootless shoot base.
S. asiatica seedlings are not visible above ground, but white succulent shoots can be found attached to host
roots. Mature plants have green foliage above ground and that is sparsely covered with coarse, short, white, bulbousbased hairs. S. asiatica are normally 15-30cm tall but have grown to 60cm. Leaves are nearly opposite, narrowly
lanceolate, about 1-3cm long, with successive leaf pairs perpendicular to one another. S. asiatica flowers in summer
and fall. Flowers are small (less than 1.5cm in diameter) are sessile, axillary, the corolla is two-lipped, and they occur
on loose spikes. Flower colour varies regionally, from red, orange, or yellow in Africa to pink, white, yellow, or purple
in Asia. The flowers give way to swollen seeds pods, each containing thousands of microscopic seeds. Underground
stems are round with scale-like leaves and white but turn blue when exposed to air. The roots are succulent, round,
without root hairs, and found attached to a host species root system. (CDFA, 2006; Invasive.org, 2006).

Description: S. Asiatica Is Not A Conspicuous Weed It Had Spread To Infest Almost 200,000 Hectares Before Being

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