Stop the seeds, stop the spread? Sterile burning bush developed.

Posted on August 24, 2011 by Sylvan Kaufman
Euonymus alatus seeds

A new cultivar will be seedless

Researchers at the Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station  have painstakingly developed a sterile triploid cultivar of Euonymus alatus, winged burning bush.  This ever-popular landscape plant has created dense thickets when it escapes into forests.  The process for developing the sterile cultivar is being patented by the researchers and the University of Connecticut.  It will take several years before the sterile plants are available at a nursery near you.  Sales of burning bush currently reach $38 million/year in the U.S.

Thammina et al. 2011. In vitro regeration of triploid plants of Euonymus alatus ‘Compactus’ (burning bush) from endosperm tissues. HortScience 46:1141-1147.

http://today.uconn.edu/blog/2011/08/uconn-scientist-develops-sterile-variety-of-invasive-plant-2/

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Swallow-wort leaf-eating beetles for biocontrol

Posted on August 17, 2011 by Sylvan Kaufman

Two moths have passed a major test towards becoming approved biocontrol agents for swallow-wort vines (Vincetoxicum spp.).  Swallow-wort is related to milkweeds, but these moth larvae appear to specialize on swallow-wort and don’t touch native milkweeds. 

http://www.northeastipm.org/about-us/publications/ipm-insights/swallow-wort-biocontrols-pass-test/

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Could Phragmites be a major allergen?

Posted on August 2, 2011 by Sylvan Kaufman

Two University of Minnesota researchers propose that the rapid spread of Phragmites australis around urban areas could be responsible for high levels of allergenic pollen.  Currently most people are simply tested for allergies to grass pollen without differentiating different species of grasses, but since Phragmites pollen is a distinctive size, the authors propose setting up pollen traps to see how abundant the pollen is compared to other grass pollens.  More than 90 million people could live close to large stands of Phragmites in the U.S.

Schimpf, D. J. and White, N. A. 2011.  Did Cryptic Invasion of North America by Common Reed Change Exposure to Pollen Allergens?  University of Minnesota Duluth Occasional Papers.  http://d-commons.d.umn.edu:8180/jspui/handle/10792/135

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