TThhee EElleeggaanncceeooff tthhee SSaarr ii

Saskia �ernando Gallery

�Monday 8th November, 2010

This plant has not come to attention in thepast in Sri Lanka but thanks to recentinvestigations conducted by the

researchers from the Faculty of Science atUniversity of Peradeniya, they found that thespecies is very invasive in the KnucklesMountain Ranges in the central part of SriLanka and have been continuing investigation ofthis species.

The Knuckles Mountain Range was declared aWorld Heritage site by UNESCO at the WorldHeritage Conference in Brazil July 31, 2010. Nowthe time has come to do some investigations onthis plant in Sri Lanka. My recent visit to SriLanka found the species already established inthe central mountain regions such as in Kandy,Gampola, Ginigathena, Bulathkohupitiya,Dedugala and Nawalapitiva areas.

Austroeupatorium inulifolium is similar inappearance to podisinghomaran or Siam weed(Chromolaena odorata) and belongs to the sameplant family asteraceae, but grows at higher ele-vations. It is a neotropical plant widely distrib-

uted in its native South America from Panama,Colombia, Peru, and Brazil to Argentina.

Austroeupatorium is a perennial spreadingscrambling shrub which grows up to 2-5m.Stems are covered with dense short hairs andmoderately branched. Leaves are simple andopposite below becoming sub-opposite or alter-nate above. Leaf petiole is 1-2 cm long, leafblades are ovate to narrowly oblong, 7 -14 cmlong, 2.5 - 8 cm wide, acuminate at apex, marginsare serrate, 3 veined starting from well abovebase, hairy, pale green beneath. Flowers are ter-minal or arising from upper nodes. Floral headsare 2-3 mm diameter, 5-6 mm long. Each headcomprising 3-4 series of involucral bractsenclosing 10-15 creamy white florets with corol-las 4-5 mm long, flowers fragrant. Seeds (ach-enes) oblong. angular, 1.5 mm long with awhitish pappus 4 mm long. Seeds are spread bywind, water, via animals humans and vehicles.

Austroeupatorium is an aggressive speciesthat rapidly colonizes areas cleared for plantingnew crops, agricultural fields, fallow fields,

waste lands and roadsides, natural forests,grasslands, riparian zones, wetlands.

It is listed as an “agricultural” and “environ-mental weed” in the Global Compendium ofWeeds. It is a serious weed in the Philippineswhere it forms very dense thickets in rubber, teaand rosella plantations, upland rice plantationsand clearings in secondary forest.

The Dutch introduced it to Western Sumatrato smother illuk in rubber plantations. In 1935,local farmers began to plant A. inufolium cut-tings in illuk on their farms for 3- 4 year fallows.Compared to illuk A. inufolium provides muchmore organic materials and readily available Nand P to the next crop.

Keep an eye on this plant in the country. If ithasn’t distributed around the country, it is bet-ter to include it under the “invasive plants list”in Sri Lanka and eradicate the plant from smallareas. Eradication is achievable in their earlystages of the colony.

Even though this plant is sweeping andmarching along through central mountains inSri Lanka adversely affecting biodiversity andecosystems process of unique environment spe-cially in knuckles, the plant is yet to be identi-fied as an invasive in the country by relevantauthorities,

Dr. Lalith Gunasekera,Invasive Plants Specialist

Melbourne, Victoria Australia

In keeping with the theme where the focus isenvironment and its beauty, the EnvironmentalFoundation (EFL) has come out with a stunningpictorial calendar for 2011. In fact, it is the thirdconsecutive calendar highlighting the biodiversityof the country.

As in previous years, EFL hopes to raise fundsfor their conservation efforts through the sale ofthese calendars.

The calendar contains beautiful images of Sri

Lanka’s natural heritage, including shots ofKudrimalai in Wilpattu, Sinharaja, Horton Plains,Kumana, Starfish in Kalpitiya and underwaterimages of the ocean off Colombo.

Each photograph highlights an issue faced bythat ecosystem while aiming to educate the generalpublic on the merits of protecting the environ-ment.

A spokeswoman of EFL says funds raisedthrough the sale of the calendar supports them to

fight for environmental conservation through liti-gation.

She says the ongoing litigation against illegalconstructions within the Wilpattu National Park ismade possible by the funds raised through the saleof the Calendar for Conservation 2010.

This 12 page square calendar is printed on FSCcertified paper using vegetable oil based ink andcontains UV spot varnish on each photograph. Thephotographers include, Vimukthi Weeratunga,

Devaka Seneviratne, Ifham Raji, DeshanTennekoon, Darshana Jayawardena, ManjulaWijeratne and Studio Times Limited.

Anyone can become part of EFL’s efforts to pro-tect and preserve Sri Lanka’s natural heritage bypurchasing a calendar. Copies priced at Rs. 700 areavailable at Environmental Foundation, Barefoot,ODEL, Gandhara, Vijitha Yapa, M.D. Gunasena,Sarasavi Bookshops,Keells Supermarkets – Crescat,Union Place and Kohuwala. (IN)

Family: AsteraceaeBotanical name: Austroeupatorium inulifoliumCommon name: Suddha‘Suddha’: Silent destroyer of

the Knuckles Mountain Range

EFL produces a stunner

Friday 31st December, 2010 3