Vernonia noveboracenisis - New Crop Summary & Recommendations

By Sam Hansen

2007

Series: New Floricultural Crops: Formulation of Production Schedules for Wild, Non- domesticated Species

Part of the requirements for Horticultural Science 5051: Production II University of Minnesota Sam Hansen Hort 5051 New Crop Report April 30, 2007

Taxonomy: Scientific Name: noveboracensis Common Names: New York ironweed, swamp ironweed Family:

Geographic Distribution: Continent: North America State/Province/Region: East Coast in Georgia to Mississippi and north to Ontario and to Massachusetts; in Kentucky – Appalachian Plateaus and Interior Low Plateaus Tendency to naturalize or become invasive: V. noveboracensis may become a bad weed in moist, rich pastures. Not many livestock will eat it either. V. noveboracensis will also naturalize give proper conditions.

Native Habitat: Habitat: Full sun, habitat wet most of the year – stream banks, creek margins, wet fields, pastures and meadows, fresh marshes, wet woods, thickets, open places. FACW+ (Facultative wetlands more often than not) Plant community: “red maple (Acer rubrum), tag alder (Alnus serrulata), river birch (Betula nigra), broom sedge (Carex scoparia), stiff dogwood (Cornus amomum), hollow Joepyeweed (Eupatorium maculatum), jewelweed (Impatiens capensis), soft rush (Juncus effusus), tulip poplar (Liriodendron tulipifera), winged monkey-flower (Mimulus alatus), heal-all (Prunella vulgaris), serrate-leaved blackberry (Rubus argutus), black willow (Salix nigra), elderberry (Sambucus canadensis)” (Gaddy 2002) Also goldenrod (Solidago canadensis) and thoroughworts (Ageratina adenophora).

Taxonomic Description: Overall Plant Habit/Description: Terrestrial - upright habit – 1-3 meters in height; numerous ; umbellate inflorescence Root system type Leaves: glabrous to thinly pubescent; linear-lanceolate to elliptical-lanceolate; simple, alternate; serrate margins Flower: corymb to umbellate 1-3 dm; five fused petals blue to purple colored; purple bracts; achene 4-4.5mm; purple pappus; cymes 1-3.5cm; head are 30 – 50-flowered Season of Bloom: all sources gave differing bloom seasons, from July to October Uses by indigenous people: Cherokee used this plant to relieve pains after childbirth, to reduce pain due to monthly period and prevent menstruation; taken for blood problems and also loose teeth; treated stomach ulcers and hemorrhage

Cultivars on the Market: Vernonia noveboracensis, also known as New York ironweed, is available on the market. There are no other known varieties or cultivars released or being worked on.

Propagation Methods: Vegetative Methods: - from ‘soft wood’ stem cuttings - clump division Seed Method: Seed does have a dormancy, which is broken through a four week vernalization period Germination temperature and duration: day/night temperatures 70-85°F/65- 68°F; duration unavailable as germination is sporadic

Product Specifications: Crop Ideotype: A marketable cultivar of Vernonia noveboracensis is going to have masses of purple to blue flowers. This will be it’s main sales point. A 2-3’ tall plant would be ideal so that it would be more versatile in the landscape. Shorter internodes would be good to have as this would make the plant look fuller. Another characteristic to look at might be male sterility. This would be beneficial in slowing down the invasiveness of the plant.

Market Niche – Identification and Justification Target Sales Date: The first blooming New York ironweed should be for sale near May 15th, when the nursery opens. They should be available through the summer into September and October. This is when they normally are blooming. Programmability: I believe, as this is an herbaceous perennial that it could be forced year round. (This crop could potentially make a good cut flower, so it would be nice for the floral industry if this was available year round.) Crop Competition: The main crops that this will compete with are other tall swamp . These might include swamp milkweed (Asclepias incarnata), Blue Flag iris (Iris versicolor), royal fern (Osmunda regalis), joepyeweed (Eupatorium maculatum), jewelweed (Impatiens capensis), soft rush (Juncus effusus) and winged monkey flower (Mimulus alatus). Major Crop Potential: Because there is only one color at this point in time, and there are many other herbaceous swamp perennials with similar characteristics, it would seem that this doesn’t have much potential. I do believe that would be a good compliment to other crops already in production, but I don’t think it will be able to out compete them. Initial Limitations: The only difficulty that I can foresee is that the plants might be too tall. Given, some consumers will want taller plants. However, I think that most want plants that aren’t much taller than 3’. Previous Identifiability: There are some areas that this plant would be recognized. These are mostly along the east coast, where the plant is native too. However, as far as being identifiable to grower and consumers already, it would seem that it is limited.

Cultural Requirements: Winter Hardiness: Zones 4-9 Heat/Drought Tolerance: Prefers moist soils. Light: Prefers full sun; photoperiod seems to be long days, as it doesn’t flower until July or August at the earliest. Soil: Tolerates many types of soil Container sizes: Plugs (288 or larger); #1 pots to grow on and to sale Disease/pests: There are no know serious threats. Fungicides: A fungicidal drench may be beneficial when sowing seeds.

Production Schedule: From Seed: Cold Stratification: 25-30 days; 40°F; moist media Phase One: 7-14 days; evenly moist conditions; 70-85°F/65-68°F day/night temps Phase Two: 25-30 days; evenly moist; 70-85°F/65-68°F day/night temps Transplant to individual pots. Phase Three: 25-30 days; well watered; 70-85°F/65-68°F day/night temps Phase Four: 7-14 days; 70-75°F/63-65°F day/night temps for hardening off Total time: After stratification – 64-88 days (9-12 wks)

Needs Assessment for Genetic Improvement: Future assessments and tests that could be done include the following: - GA treatments: I did GA3 treatments and varying concentrations and none of the seed germinated. This could be due to dead seed or lack of being affected by GA3. - Height control systems: Some things that could be tested are various plant growth regulators and also pruning. Measuring the effects of these treatments will give a good assessment of whether or not this species can be controlled height-wise. Also, traditional cross-breeding could be done to bring about shorter plants. It would be important to look into the market potential of shorter plants as well. - A final area to breed for is earlier flowering, or season-long flowering.

Literature cited:

Blomquist, H. L. and H. J. Oosting. A Guide to the Spring and Early Summer Flora of the Piedmont, NC. Durham, NC. Duke University. 1940.

Brown, Melvin L. and Russel G. Brown. Herbaceous Plants of Maryland. College Park, MD. Department of Botany. 1984

Jones, Ronald J. Plant Life of Kentucky: An Illustrated Guide to the Vascular Flora. The University Press of Kentucky. Lexington, KY. 2005.

Justice, William S., C. Ritchie Bell and Anne H. Lindsey. Wild Flowers of North Carolina. 2 ed. University of North Carolina. Chapel Hill. 2005.

Kujawski, Jennifer; Davis, Kathy M. Propagation protocol for production of plug + transplants of Vernonia noveboracensis plants. Beltsville - National Plant Materials Center, Beltsville, Maryland. Native Plant Network. http://www.nativeplantnetwork.org (accessed 30 April 2007). Moscow (ID): University of Idaho, College of Natural Resources, Forest Research Nursery. 2001.

Moerman, Daniel E. “Medicinal Plants of Native America.” University of Michigan Museum of Anthropology Technical Reports. Ann Arbor. 1.19 (1986).

Phillips, Harry R. Growing and Propagating Wild Flowers. Chapel Hill. University of North Carolina. 1985.

Rhoads, Ann Fowler and William McKinley Klein, Jr. The Vascular Flora of Pennsylvania: Annotated checklist and atlas. American Philosophical Society. Philadelphia. 1993.

Small, John K. Manual of the Southeaster Flora. New York. 1933.

“Tall Ironweed.” Ohio Perennial & Biennial Weed Guide. 25 April 2007. Ohio State University. 25 April 2007. http://www.oardc.ohio-state.edu/weedguide/singlerecord.asp?id=980

United States Department of Agriculture. NRCS Plants Database. Vernonia noveboracensis. 26 April 2007. 26 April 2007. http://plants.usda.gov/java/profile?symbol=VENO