Environment and Herbicide Effects on Canada Thistle Ecotypes

Abstract

Root sections of seven Canada thistle(Cirsium arvense(L.) Scop.) ecotypes were grown under 8, 12, 14, and 16-hr photoperiods at 16, 21, and 27 C. Flowering occurred in all ecotypes under a 16-hr photoperiod. At the 14-hr photoperiod five ecotypes flowered; flowering in three of them was temperature-dependent. Shoot and root development and plant height varied with ecotype. Both the root-to-shoot ratios and the number of shoot buds formed on the roots were inversely related to temperature and length of photoperiod. Herbicides tested for their effects on Canada thistle were 4-amino-3,5,6-trichloropicolinic acid (picloram), 3,6-dichloro-o-anisic acid (dicamba), and (2,4-dichlorophenoxy)acetic acid (2,4-D). Control of top growth increased with increasing temperature. Similarly, root control was maximum at 27 C, at which temperature there were few fleshy roots. Picloram, unlike 2,4-D and dicamba, caused little leaf damage but completely destroyed the root system.