Biology and Impacts of Pacific Island Invasive Species - Golden Crownbeard
Verbesina encelioides, a gray, golden crownbeard, is a sunflower-like herbaceous annual plant ranging in height from 0.3 to 1.7 m with showy yellow flowers. It is native to the southwestern United States, the Mexican Plateau, and other parts of tropical America. Its invasive characteristics include high seed production (as many as 300–350 seeds per flower and multiple flowers per plant), seed dormancy, ability to tolerate dry conditions, and possible allelopathic effects. Many other Pacific islands with similar habitats could be invaded by V. encelioides This research stresses out that Verbesina encelioides can be controlled via herbicides or mechanical means, but measures must be repeated due to the presence of persistent seed banks. Further research on V. encelioides is needed to understand its population dynamics, allelopathic properties, and impacts on natural ecosystems.
Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme
Because V. encelioides possesses numerous invasive characteristics and has already invaded many other parts of the world, it is important to develop a comprehensive understanding of the plant to limit its spread within Hawai‘i and prevent invasion of other Pacific island ecosystem
Biology and impacts of Pacific Island Invasive species - Verbesina encelioides, Golden Crownbeard