Eupatorium capillifolium

Taxobox
name = "Eupatorium capillifolium"

---

image_width = 240px
regnum = Plantae
divisio = Angiospermae
unranked_classis = eudicot
ordo = Asterales
familia = Asteraceae
genus = "Eupatorium"
species = "E. capillifolium"
binomial = "Eupatorium capillifolium"
binomial_authority = (Lam.) Small

"Eupatorium capillifolium" (dogfennel) is a perennial herbaceous plant in the family Asteraceae, native to southeastern North America. [cite web | title = Eupatorium capillifolium (Lam.) Small | work = PLANTS | url = http://plants.usda.gov/java/profile?symbol=EUCA5 ] It is generally between 50 cm and 2 meters tall and has several stems which fork out from a substantial base.cite book | last = Uva | first = Richard H | coauthors = Joseph C. Neal, Joseph M. Ditomaso | title = Weeds of The Northeast | publisher = Cornell University Press | date = 1997 | location = Ithaca, NY | pages = 140-141 | id = ] The stems and base are covered in leaves so dissected that they resemble green hairs coming out of the stem in fractal patterns. When crushed, the leaves and flowers smell rather unpleasant.

Classification

Dogfennel is closely related to "Eupatorium compositifolium" (yankeeweed) and "Eupatorium leptophyllum" and some authors consider all of them to be varieties of "E. capillifolium".cite web | url = http://www.fs.fed.us/database/feis/plants/forb/eupcap/all.html | title = Eupatorium capillifolium | work = Fire Effects Information System | publisher = U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station, Fire Sciences Laboratory | accessdate = 2008-08-06 ]

Cultivation and uses

Dogfennel thrives on roadsides, in fields and reduced tillage crops, as well as areas which have burned or otherwise been disturbed. It is found in the early to middle (seral) stages of ecological succession. It is native to the southern and eastern United States, from Massachusetts south to Florida, and west to Missouri and Texas,cite web | url = http://www.efloras.org/florataxon.aspx?flora_id=1&taxon_id=242416526 | title = Eupatorium capillifolium | work = Flora of North America ] and also Cuba and the Bahamas. Unlike insect-pollinated plants in this genus, "E. capillifolium" is wind-pollinated.cite journal | title = Bias in Inheritance of Chloroplast DNA and Mechanisms of Hybridization between Wind- And Insect-Pollinated Eupatorium (Asteraceae) | author = Victoria I. Sullivan, Joseph Neigel and Bomao Miao | journal = American Journal of Botany | volume = 78 | issue = 5 | date = May, 1991 | pages = 695–705 | doi = 10.2307/2445090 ]

Dogfennel is eaten by Florida's scarlet-bodied wasp moth, "Cosmosoma myrodora". These moths feed on the plant while mature, to store its toxins and ward off predators.

Control

Dogfennel spreads by both seeds and rootstocks and can grow quite aggressively. It is common in pastures, especially those which are unimproved or overgrazed, and degrades the quality of the pasture by competing with desired forage species.cite web| last = Ferrell | first = J.A. | coauthors = G.E. MacDonald | title = Dogfennel (Eupatorium capillifolium): Biology and Control | publisher = University of Florida | date = | url = http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/AG233 | accessdate = 2007-02-04 ] Dogfennel contains liver-damaging pyrrolizidine alkaloids, so livestock are known to eat all the turf around a stand of it. To remove infestations of dogfennel, the recommended course of action is to mow it and apply herbicides.

References