Tithonia (thurberi)
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Allegra Mount Seed Lab Manager Borderlands Restoration PO Box 1191 Patagonia, Arizona 85624 949-690-2592 borderlands.restoration@gmail.com www.borderlandsrestoration.org |
| Family Scientific Name: | Asteraceae | ||
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| Family Common Name: | Aster family | ||
| Scientific Name: | Tithonia thurberi A. Gray | ||
| Common Name: | Arizona sunflowerweed | ||
| Ecotype: | Madrean Archipelago | ||
| General Distribution: |
Commonly found in disturbed areas and in rich soils near streams from 3,000-4,500 ft in Arizona and Sonora (Kearney and Peebles 1960, personal observation). |
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| Propagation Goal: | Plants | ||
| Propagation Method: | Seed | ||
| ProductType: | Container (plug) | ||
| Propagule Collection: |
Use shears or a knife to cut just below the flower head, allowing it to fall into bucket or collection bag. Another method is to grab the head and tip it upside down so that the seeds fall out into the collection bag. |
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| Propagule Processing: |
Seed cleaning has proven to be a bit tricky as the achenes are tightly held in dense heads. Manual authors have used the following method: First pour all the heads into a sieve and let the already loose seed fall out. There is likely much seed remaining in the heads. Next, place all the heads into a large mixing tub and stomp on them to try and break the achenes from the head. Sieve loose seed after the stomping. This did not result in removing much of the seed from the heads. The manual authors also tried placing small batches, a one gallon glass jar with a lid and shaking the jar vigorously to knock the seed out of the head. This was again sieved out and the remaining seed was removed by hand or with needle nose plyers. At the end of this process, air-winnow the material. Other method experimentation is recommended, including more intensive machine cleaning. Storage of at least 12 months may increase the viability of T. diversifolia (Agboola et al 2006). There is no storage information available for T. thurberi at this time. |
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| Establishment Phase: | Information regarding germination of T. thurberi is largely unavailable. However, T. diversifolia, a Mexican species that is cultivated widely and has become a pest in many parts of the world, has shown 80-85% germination rates when immersed in 80-100°C water for 30-60 seconds and then placed in cold water to cool, compared with 25% germination rate of untreated seed (Agboola et al 2006). Germination rates for seeds stored for 12 months increased further to 80-100% following the hot water treatment (Agboola et al 2006). This study with T. diversifolia may suggest a similar dormancy period for T. thurberi. This is only a tentative assumption. Germination trials involving hot water scarification with fresh and stored seed would be informative for this species. | ||
| References: |
Agboola, D. A., W. F. Idowu, and M. Kadiri. "Seed germination and seedling growth of the Mexican sunflower Tithonia diversifolia (Compositae) in Nigeria, Africa." Revista de biología tropical 54.2 (2006): 395-402. Kearney, Thomas H., and Robert H. Peebles. Arizona Flora. Berkeley: U of California, 1960. Print. Borderlands Restoration Network (2018). BRN Native Plant Materials Program Database. Unpublished Raw Data. |
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Citation:
Allen-Cantú, Juniper; Claverie, Francesca; McNelis, Perin; Mount, Allegra. 2018. Propagation protocol for production of Container (plug) Tithonia thurberi A. Gray Plants Borderlands Restoration Patagonia, Arizona. In: Native Plant Network. URL: https://NativePlantNetwork.org (accessed 2024/07/01). US Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, National Center for Reforestation, Nurseries, and Genetic Resources.
