Boerhavia diffusa L.

Code

BOEDI

Growth form

Broadleaf

Biological cycle

annual

Habitat

terrestrial

Northern Cameroon: Boerhavia diffusa germinates as from the first rains of May and can germinate throughout the rainy season. Its cycle is very short. The first flowers appear 4 weeks after emergence, quickly followed by fructification. The flowering and fruiting period are spread over more than two months.
Mayotte: Boerhavia diffusa flowers and fruits all year round.

Boerhavia diffusa is an annual species that can be perennial in appropriate soil moisture conditions. It reproduces by seed or by fragmentation of the rhizome during cultural operations. 

Boerhavia  diffusa can easily be confused with B. coccinea. This species has cymes with 4 to 12 flowers, hairy stems and a lamina with a glabrous margin.

Northern Cameroon: Boerhavia diffusa grows mainly in the Sudano-Sahel and Sudan regions and it is less common further north. It grows on well-structured moist soil. It is especially common or abundant on feralitic soils or silty clay alluvium along streams. This species is light-loving and grows in open places. It is also very nitrophilous: rich soils or fertilizers are very advantageous to it. Although it can be readily removed by repeated weeding, this weed is favored by a mechanical weeding which has the effect of splitting the taproot.
Comoros: ruderal species that grows in old vegetable cultivation, on the edge of the field. It is very abundant in the three islands, in open areas, at low and medium altitude.
Madagascar: highly invasive weed in sub-humid and semi-arid areas of low altitude (West and Southwest). Common in dry areas where it is known for its ability to produce many seeds in a very short time. Grows on all soil types, except waterlogged soils; it is abundant on light soils (silt and red sand) which are still fertile.
Mauritius: Weed occurring in abandoned land, fallow land, along roadsides and cultivated fields. It is found especially in wet areas.
Mayotte: Boerhavia diffusa is a common cryptogenic species in a wide range of natural environments, open and secondarized or even very degraded, especially near the coast and in xerophilic regions. It is found in crops, villages, embankments and wetlands.
Reunion: This ruderal species grows very well on soils rich in nitrogen, humid and especially sunny. The weed is favored by a mechanical weeding which has the effect of splitting the taproot. It occurs mainly on roadsides, on the edge of sugar cane fields or vegetable cultivations. It is especially present in the West and in the South of the island. It is also present in urban and peri-urban.
Seychelles: Species present in forest clearings and abandoned areas. It is rarely abundant.

Local Weediness

Kenya: Frequent but not abundant.
South Africa: Disrtibuted to the entire parts of SA except North West and South West of SA. It occurs in every field including croplands and gardens, it is becoming a problem in the fields.
Tanzania: Frequent but not abundant.
Uganda: Frequent but not abundant.

Local harmfulness
 
Benin: rare but abundant when present.
Burkina Faso: rare and scarce.
Northern Cameroon: Boerhavia diffusa is a weed present in 20-30% of cultivated land but is rarely abundant.
Comoros: A major plant pest in the vegetable cultivation. It is also present in the plantations of cassava and banana.
Kenya: frequent and scarce.
Madagascar: B. diffusa is very harmful in cotton farming and cassava plantations.Several weedings are necessary to eliminate competition from the weed. Tillage promotes its multiplication.
Mali: rare and scarce.
Mauritius: A weed of low to medium harmfulness in sugarcane fields but may be important in vegetable cultivations.
Nigeria: rare and scarce.
Uganda: rare but abundant when present.
Reunion: B. diffusa is not a problem for sugarcane because this species prefers  sunny areas. However, it is more problem for vegetable cultivations.
Senegal: rare and scarce.
Seychelles: B. diffusa is of low harmfulness.
Tanzania: rare but abundant when present.
 

Global management

Cultivation: After mechanical cultivation Boerhavia species resprout from the rootstock, but relatively few cultivations are needed to extend their powers of regeneration.

Chemical: Boerhavia diffusa is relatively susceptible to 2,4 D and MCPA and seedlings are readily controlled. A considerable degree of control of established plants can also be obtained. Some regrowth is likely to occur after a single treatment but retreatment normally results in a complete kill. Atrazine has given good results as a pre-emergence treatement in maize in Philippines.

Management recommandations for annual broad-leaved weeds in rice fields: http://portal.wiktrop.org/document/show/20

Local management

Madagascar: Boerhavia diffusa is well controlled in direct seeding by permanent vegetative cover. Manual weeding is possible when the plant is not in abundance. Sensitive to atrazine at pre-emergence and very sensitive to 2,4-D and to glyphosate when young or mature.

Herbarium pictures ReCOLNAT: https://explore.recolnat.org/search/botanique/simplequery=Boerhavia%2520diffusa