Yellow Starthistle
Centaurea solstitalis
Keys to Identification
The flowers are bright yellow with distinctive spines at the base
- Forms pea-green rosettes that quickly turn silvery-green as they become full grown plants
The stems are winged and can be up to two feet long
- Each plant produces thousands of seed
- Yellow starthistle covers millions of acres in the west but it has only been found in a handful of locations within Colorado. It is critical that this plant be eliminated wherever it is found.
This information courtesy of the Colorado Natural Areas Program
Family: Asteraceae (Sunflower)
Other Names: St. Barnaby’s thistle
USDA Code: CESO3
Legal Status: Colorado Noxious Weed List A
New in Colorado – call your county weed supervisor if you find this plant!
Identification
Lifecycle: Winter annual
Growth form: Forb
Flower: Flower heads are yellow, located singly at the ends of branches. Flower heads are distinguished by sharp, straw-colored thorns, which are up to 0.75 inches long.
Seeds/Fruit: Yellow starthistle has two types of seeds, plumed and plumeless.
Leaves: Basal leaves are deeply lobed while the upper leaves are entire and sharply pointed.
Stems: Mature plants are 2-3 feet tall and have rigid, branching, winged stems that are covered with cottony hairs (Whitson et al. 1996).
Roots: Taproot.
Seedling: Seedlings have oblong, tongue-shaped cotyledons (Herzog and Randall 1998).
Similar Species
Exotics: Tocolote
Natives: None known.
Impacts
Agricultural: Yellow starthistle causes a neurological disorder called chewing disease (equine nigropallidal encephalomalacia) in horses that eat it (Maddox et al. 1985).
Ecological: Yellow starthistle is a pioneering plant that becomes established on disturbed land. It forms dense infestations, reduces the available edible forage, and exhibits a suspected allelopathic effect on some associated species (Maddox et al. 1985).
Habitat and Distribution
General requirements: Yellow starthistle invades rangelands, pastures, roadsides, cropland, and wastelands. It is intolerant of shade and requires light on the soil surface for winter rosette and taproot development (FEIS 1998). Yellow starthistle is capable of establishing on deep, well-drained soils as well as on shallow, rocky soils that receive from 10-40 inches of annual precipitation. In the Pacific Northwest, yellow starthistle favors sites that were formerly dominated by big sage-brush, bluebunch wheatgrass, Idaho fescue and Sandberg bluegrass (Sheley et al. 1999).
Distribution: Well established in the Pacific coast states, and spreading west. So far, fewer than a dozen infestations of yellow starthistle have been reported in Colorado.
Historical: Introduced from Europe, where it is native to the Mediterranean region.
Biology/Ecology
Life cycle: Seedlings usually emerge in the fall, form rosettes, and begin growing a taproot. Root growth continues throughout the winter. Yellow starthistle bolts in late spring and flowers June through August.
Mode of reproduction: It reproduces entirely by seed (FEIS 1998).
Seed production: Plants usually produce 700 - 1,000 seeds/plant, but vigorous plants may produce up to 170,000 seeds/plant (Herzog and Randall 1998, FEIS 1998).
Seed bank: Seeds may remain viable for several years (Herzog and Randall 1998).
Dispersal: Plumed and plumeless seeds are dispersed at different times. Plumed seeds are dispersed by wind shortly after maturity.
Plumeless seeds remain in the seedhead until it disintegrates in the fall or winter.
Integrated Management Summary
This species is not yet well established in Colorado, and should be a priority for immediate eradication if found. Yellow starthistle favors disturbed sites such as roadsides, ditches, orchards, and overgrazed rangeland and pasture (FEIS 1998). Yellow starthistle will even invade undisturbed grassland communities where site conditions are ideal. The large seed bank in the soil combined with a long seed life make this plant extremely difficult to control. Management and control will only be successful when several techniques such as prescribed burning and spot herbicide treatment or large-scale herbicide spraying are combined to remove yellow starthistle and replace it with competitive native perennials. Anecdotal evidence indicates that yellow starthistle does not compete with planted, improved grass varieties on California foothills range (Bill Burrows, pers. comm.). Land management practices should focus on promoting healthy native plant communities.
References
FEIS - Fire Effects Information System [Online] (1996, September). Prescribed Fire and Fire Effects Research Work Unit, Rocky Mountain Research Station (producer), US Forest Service. Available: www.fs.fed.us/database/feis/ [1998,March 12]
Hastings, M.S. and J.M. DiTomasso. 1996. Fire controls yellow starthistle in California grasslands. Restoration and Management Notes 14:124-128.
Herzog, P. and J. Randall. 1998. Element stewardship abstract for Centaurea solstitialis, yellow starthistle. The Nature Conservancy. Available 7/30/98. Internet: http://tncweeds.ucdavis.edu/esadoc/documents/centsol.html
Maddox, D.M., A. Mayfield, and N.H. Poritz. 1985. Distribution of yellow starthistle (Centaurea solstitialis) and Russian knapweed (Centaurea repens). Weed Science 33:315-327.
Sheley, R.L., L.C. Larson and J.S. Jacobs. 1999. Yellow starthistle, In: R.L. Sheley and J.K. Petroff (eds.) Biology and management of noxious rangeland weeds. Oregon State University Press, Corvallis. pg. 408-416.
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