Invasiveness Assessment - Devil's claw (purple flower) (Proboscidea louisianica) in Victoria
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Plant invasiveness is determined by evaluating a plant’s biological and ecological characteristics against criteria that encompass establishment requirements, growth rate and competitive ability, methods of reproduction, and dispersal mechanisms.
| Each characteristic, or criterion, is assessed against a list of intensity ratings. Depending upon information found, a rating of Low, Medium Low, Medium High or High is assigned to that criterion. Where no data is available to answer a criterion, a rating of medium (M) is applied. A description of the invasiveness criteria and intensity ratings used in this process can be viewed here. |
The following table provides information on the invasiveness of Devil's claw (purple flower).
A more detailed description of the methodology of the Victorian Weed Risk Assessment (WRA) method can be viewed below:
Victorian Weed Risk Assessment (WRA) method (PDF - 630 KB)
Victorian Weed Risk Assessment (WRA) method (DOC - 1 MB)
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Common Name: Devil's claw (purple flower)
Scientific name: Proboscidea louisianica
| Question | Comments | Reference | Rating |
| Establishment | |||
| Germination requirements? | Seeds germinate in spring. | P & C (1992) | MH |
| Establishment requirements? | Establishes in ‘open spaces’ (e.g. roadsides, river flats, cultivation’s fallows). However, stated as occurring in partial shade. (Horticopia 1999). | P & C (1992) | MH |
| How much disturbance is required? | Establishes in vigorously growing crops (e.g. cotton and grain). | Cooley et al (1973) | MH |
| Growth/Competitive | |||
| Life form? | “Soft pumpkin – like vine spreading along the ground”, (NSW Dept of Ag. 1962). |  | ML |
| Allelopathic properties? | Have an Allelopathic effect on wheat and cotton radical elongation. | | ML |
| Tolerates herb pressure? | “As a rule, stock do not eat this plant”. | NSW Dept. Ag. (1962) | H |
| Normal growth rate? | “The extensive root system enables the plant to compete strongly with summer crops such as cotton”. (P & C (1992) | P & C (1992) | MH |
| Stress tolerance to frost, drought, w/logg, sal. etc? | Tolerant of water logging? (Occurs on river flats, drought. | P & C (1992) | ML |
| Reproduction | |||
| Reproductive system | Reproducing by seed (experiments indicate that cross-pollination is essential for fruit development). | P & C (1992) Thieret (1976) | L |
| Number of propagules produced? | ‘Field grown plants produced on average of 122 pods per plant with an average of 71 seeds per pod”. Therefore 122 x 71 = > 8,000 seeds per plant. | Riffle et al (1988) | H |
| Propagule longevity? | ? | | M |
| Reproductive period? | As annual, mature plants would produce viable propagules for only one year. | | L |
| Time to reproductive maturity? | Annual herbs. | P & C (1992) | H |
| Dispersal | |||
| Number of mechanisms? | ‘Capsules adhere to wool, bag, clothes etc. and seed fall from capsules as the transporting agent moves from place to place”. | Anon. | MH |
| How far do they disperse? | Above mechanisms could transport seeds > 200 m. | | ML |
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