Erechtites hieraciifolius
(American burnweed)

Preferred Common Name

• American burnweed

Other Scientific Names

• Erechtites agrestis (Sw.) Standl. & Steyerm.
• Erechtites cacalioides (Fisch. ex Spreng.) Less.
• Erechtites carduifolius (Cass.) DC.
• Erechtites hieracifolia (L.) Raf.
• Erechtites hieraciifolius Walp.
• Erechtites praealtus Raf.
• Erechtites sulcata Gardner
• Gynura aspera Ridl.
• Gynura malasica (Ridl.) Ridl.
• Neoceis carduifolia Cass.
• Senecio carduifolius (Cass.) Desf.
• Senecio hieraciifolius L.

International Common Names

• English: American fireweed; burnweed; fireweed; Malayan groundsel; pilewort
• Spanish: achicoria; lechiguilla
• French: crève-à-yeux; érechtite à feuilles d’ épervièr
• Chinese: liang zi cai
• Portuguese: caruru-amargoso

Local Common Names

• Bahamas: eastern fireweed
• Czech Republic: star
• Dominican Republic: semilla quemada
• El Salvador: té del suelo
• Germany: amerikanisches Scheingreiskraut; Scheinkreuzkraut
• Haiti: coté soleil
• Hungary: amerikai keresztlapu
• Lesser Antilles: laitue sauvage
• Poland: erechtites jastrzębcowaty
• Puerto Rico: achicoria de cabra
• USA: butterweed; eastern burnweed; white fireweed

• Domain: Eukaryota
•     Kingdom: Plantae
•         Phylum: Spermatophyta
•             Subphylum: Angiospermae
•                 Class: Dicotyledonae
•                     Order: Asterales
•                         Family: Asteraceae
•                             Genus: Erechtites
•                                 Species: Erechtites hieraciifolius

The family Asteraceae, with 1620 genera and more than 23,600 species, is one of the most diverse families of flowering plants (Stevens, 2012). Species within the Asteraceae are very variable in their growth form and habitat, but may be recognized by their capitulate and involucrate inflorescences, in which numerous small flowers open on the outside and are infrequently subtended by bracts. The anthers in this family are usually fused and form a tube through which the style extends before the two stigmatic lobes separate and become recurved. The rather small, single-seeded fruits usually have a plumose ‘pappus’ and are frequently dispersed by wind (Stevens, 2012; Flora Mesoamericana, 2016).

Erechtites is a small genus native to the New World, which comprises about 15 species (Flora Mesoamericana, 2016). The species name Erechtites hieraciifolius is often misspelled as E. hieracifolia or E. hieraciifolia but, according to the International Code of Botanical Nomenclature (McNeill et al., 2006), Erechtites hieraciifolius is the correct name.

The following description is from the Flora of China Editorial Committee (2016):

Herbs, annual. Stem solitary, erect, 40-100 cm tall, simple or much branched in upper part, striate, sparsely pubescent. Leaves sessile, winged; blade lanceolate to oblong, 7-16 x 3-4 cm, both surfaces glabrous or shortly pubescent on veins, pinnately veined, basally gradually attenuate or subamplexicaul, margin irregularly coarsely dentate, apex acute or shortly acuminate. Capitula numerous, arranged in terminal corymb, ca 15 x 1.5-1.8 mm. Involucres yellowish to brown-green, tubular, calyculate at base, bracteoles linear; phyllaries uniseriate, linear or linear-lanceolate, 8-11 x 0.5-1 mm, glabrous or sparsely pilose, margin narrowly scarious, apically acute or rather obtuse. Florets numerous, greenish or red tinged, tubular; outer florets uni- or biseriate, corolla filiform, 7-11 mm, 4- or 5-denticulate; central florets minutely tubular, 8-12 mm, 5-denticulate. Achenes cylindric, 2.5-3 mm, conspicuously ribbed. Pappus white, 7-8 mm.

E. hieraciifolius became a common weed across North America after the great forests were cleared in the early nineteenth century. It became particularly abundant in disturbed sites and areas of forest clearance, particularly those that had been cleared by fire (Darbyshire et al., 2012). By 1818, this species was described as one of the most common weeds in the USA (Darbyshire et al., 2012). This species may also have been introduced to countries outside its native range as a seed contaminant (USDA-ARS, 2016).

Soil reaction

• acid
• alkaline
• neutral

Soil texture

• heavy
• light
• medium

E. hieraciifolius spreads by seed (Flora de Nicaragua, 2016; Flora Mesoamericana, 2016). The pappus of copious large hairs at the apex of the seed facilitates wind dispersal. Mature plants are capable of producing thousands of seeds (>30,000 seeds per plant). Seeds are also dispersed as a seed contaminant of crops and through the movement of harvesting equipment and vehicles (Csiszár, 2006; Darbyshire et al., 2012).

E. hieraciifolius is an environmental and agricultural weed. In Canada and the USA, it is a serious weed of crops (e.g. oat, barley, maize, cranberry and blueberry) and mixed pastures (Darbyshire et al., 2012). It has also become a serious agricultural weed in Hawaii, invading sugar cane plantations, cultivated areas and pastures (Wagner et al., 1999; Darbyshire et al., 2012; PIER, 2016).

E. hieraciifolius is primarily a weed of ruderal areas, is fast-growing and can form dense populations, altering successional processes. Growing to almost 2 m in height, it is able to outcompete other species for light, water and nutrients (Csiszár, 2006). Its high seed production and seed viability lead to abundant and long-term seed reserves in soil (Csiszár, 2006). This is likely to present challenges for the control of the species.

• Proved invasive outside its native range
• Has a broad native range
• Abundant in its native range
• Highly adaptable to different environments
• Is a habitat generalist
• Tolerates, or benefits from, cultivation, browsing pressure, mutilation, fire etc
• Pioneering in disturbed areas
• Highly mobile locally
• Fast growing
• Has high reproductive potential
• Gregarious

• Modification of successional patterns
• Monoculture formation
• Negatively impacts agriculture
• Reduced native biodiversity
• Threat to/ loss of native species

• Competition - monopolizing resources
• Competition - smothering
• Rapid growth

• Highly likely to be transported internationally accidentally
• Difficult to identify/detect as a commodity contaminant
• Difficult to identify/detect in the field
• Difficult/costly to control

Social Benefit

In Bolivia, the leaves and flowers of E. hieraciifolius are used in traditional medicine as a blood depurative and the roots are used to treat cardiac disease (Lorenzo et al., 2001). In Asia, young leaves are sometimes eaten as a vegetable (Flora of China Editorial Committee, 2016; USDA-ARS, 2016).

Environmental Services

Trials performed in Japan using E. hieraciifolius showed that this species is very efficient at assimilating atmospheric nitrogen dioxide. These studies suggested that E. hieraciifolius plants have the potential to act as important sinks for anthropogenic nitrogen oxides and that “green walls” using this species could be set up around buildings and highway corridors to help sequester pollutants from car emissions or other sources (Morikawa et al., 1998; 2003; Darbyshire et al., 2012).