Rhamphicarpa fistulosa

Rhamphicarpa fistulosa
Flower of Rhamphicarpa fistulosa
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae
(unranked): Angiosperms
(unranked): Eudicots
(unranked): Asterids
Order: Lamiales
Family: Orobanchaceae
Genus: Rhamphicarpa
Species: R. fistulosa
Binomial name
Rhamphicarpa fistulosa
(Hochst.) Benth.
A rice farmer in the Casamance (southern Senegal) showing R. fistulosa invading her crop; Photo: J. Rodenburg (AfricaRice).
R. fistulosa is pale green with needle-like leaves; Photo: J. Rodenburg (AfricaRice)

Rhamphicarpa fistulosa (common name: Rice vampireweed) is a flowering plant species in the Orobanchaceae family (formerly in the Scrophulariaceae family)[1] - and the genus Rhamphicarpa.[2][3][4][5][6] The plant is pale-green but can turn reddish towards maturity. It has needle-like leaves and white flowers with long corolla tubes.[7] The flowers only open after sunset and are supposedly pollinated by night moths.[8] The plant has a broad distribution in Africa (from Guinea to Madagascar and from Sudan to South Africa) and can also be found in New Guinea and northern Australia.[6]

Rhamphicarpa fistulosa is an annual facultative hemi-parasitic forb species.[8] It is a very widespread species in seasonally flooded wetlands in tropical and sub-tropical Africa, and it is increasingly important as a parasitic weeds in rain-fed lowland rice systems in Africa,[9][10] where yield losses of more than 60% are typically reported.[11] It is particularly a problem in rice fields prone to temporary, uncontrolled flooding.[12][11] Management strategies against Rhamphicarpa fistulosa are limited;[13] hand-weeding, permanent flooding, fertilizer applications and the use of herbicides are currently the only known, effective control measures.[10][14]

A team of researchers from the Africa Rice Center (AfricaRice),[15] Wageningen University, FAO and the national research centers of Tanzania (MARI), Cote d'Ivoire (CNRA) and Benin (INRAB), investigate the importance of this species as a parasitic weed to rice and tries to elucidate its biology, ecology and host damage mechanisms and to develop, with participating farmers, management strategies. The economic and social impact is also studied and national extension and crop protection systems are analyzed with the aim to identify constraints and challenges for the effective control and prevention of invasive pests such as Rhamphicarpa fistulosa. The project, called PARASITE,[13][16] is funded by the Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research - Science for Global Development[13][17] and receives additional financial support through the CGIAR[18] Research Program on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security (CCAFS).[19]

References

  1. ↑ Olmstead RG, DePamphilis CW, Wolfe AD, Young ND, Elisons WJ, Reeves PA, 2001. Disintegration of the Scrophulariaceae. American Journal of Botany 88, 348-361.
  2. ↑ Bentham G, 1835. Synopsis of the Buchnereae, a tribe of Scrophulariaceae. Companion to the Botanical Magazine 1, 356-384.
  3. ↑ Bentham G, 1846. Ordo CXLII. Scrophulariaceae, In: De Candolle, A. (Ed.), Prodomus systematis naturalis regni vegetabilis. Paris, pp. 186-586.
  4. ↑ Hochstetter CHF, 1841. Plantarum nubicarum nova genera. Flora 24, 369-384.
  5. ↑ Engler A, 1895. Die Pflantzenwelt Ost-Afrikas und der Nachbargebiete. Deutsch Ost-Afrika 5, 1-433.
  6. 1 2 Hansen OJ, 1975. The genus Rhamphicarpa Benth. emend. Engl. (Scrophulariaceae). A taxonomic revision. Botanisk Tidsskrift 70, 103-125.
  7. ↑ "Home". Retrieved 13 September 2014.
  8. 1 2 Ouédraogo O, Neumann U, Raynal Roques A, Sallé G, Tuquet C, Dembélé B, 1999. New insights concerning the ecology and the biology of Rhamphicarpa fistulosa (Scrophulariaceae). Weed Res. 39, 159-169.
  9. ↑ Rodenburg J, Morawetz JJ, Bastiaans L. 2015. Rhamphicarpa fistulosa (Hochst.) Benth. – A widespread facultative hemi-parasitic weed, threatening rice production in Africa. Weed Research, DOI: 10.1111/wre.12129
  10. 1 2 Rodenburg J, Riches CR, Kayeke JM, 2010. Addressing current and future problems of parasitic weeds in rice. Crop Prot. 29, 210-221.
  11. 1 2 Rodenburg J, Zossou-Kouderin N, Gbèhounou G, Ahanchede A, Touré A, Kyalo G, Kiepe P, 2011b. Rhamphicarpa fistulosa, a parasitic weed threatening rain-fed lowland rice production in sub-Saharan Africa - A case study from Benin. Crop Prot. 30, 1306-1314.
  12. ↑ Kabiri S, Rodenburg J, Kayeke J, Ast A van, Makokha DW, Msangi SH, Irakiza R, Bastiaans L. 2015. Can the parasitic weeds Striga asiatica and Rhamphicarpa fistulosa co-occur in rain-fed rice? Weed Research, DOI: 10.1111/wre.12124
  13. 1 2 3 Bastiaans, L, Akanvou L, van Ast A, Gbehounou G, Kabiri S, Kayeke J, Klerkx L, Mourits M, N'cho S, Oude Lansink A, Rodenburg J, Schut M. 2013. PARASITE: An integrated research programme on parasitic weeds of rice in sub-Saharan Africa.16th European Weed Research Society Symposium, 24–27 June 2013, Samsun, Turkey. P. 92.
  14. ↑ Gbèhounou G, Assigbé P, 2003. Rhamphicarpa fistulosa (Hochst.) Benth. (Scrophulariaceae): new pest on lowland rice in Benin. Results of a survey and immediate control possibilities. Annales des Sciences Agronomique du Bénin 4, 89-103.
  15. ↑ http://www.africarice.org
  16. ↑ "Parasite project". Parasite project. Retrieved 13 September 2014.
  17. ↑ Joost. "WOTRO Science for Global Development". Retrieved 13 September 2014.
  18. ↑ "Home / CGIAR". CGIAR. Retrieved 13 September 2014.
  19. ↑ "Home - CCAFS: CGIAR research program on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security". Retrieved 13 September 2014.
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