Parasitic Flowering Plants
Witchweed
Striga hermonthica Benth.
Striga asiatica (L.) Kuntze
Symptoms: Severe attack produces leaf wilting and chlorosis.
Infected plants may be stunted and die before seed set.
Pathogen and disease characteristics: Striga
seeds are stimulated to germinate by root exudates of the host.
Plants emerge close to host plant 1 to 2 months after crop is
planted, flower 3 to 4 weeks after emergence, and produce mature
seed a month later. The species are similar in appearance, with
square stems, small, bright green elongated leaves, and red to
pink flowers. Seeds are minute (less than 0.25 mm long) and borne
in pods or capsules.
Host range: Pearl millet, maize, sorghum, sugarcane,
rice, sudangrass, wheat, oats, barley.
Geographic distribution: USA (North and South Carolina),
Africa, Australia, India, Indonesia, Southeast Asia.
Nomenclature discrepancies: None.
Seed transmission: Not seed transmitted.
Primary citations: Williams
et al. 1978, Shurtleff 1980.
United States
Department of Agriculture
Agricultural
Research Service
The material on this page is in the public
domain.
Original posting: June 5, 1999.
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