''Crupina vulgaris'' is a species of flowering plant in the family

Asteraceae Asteraceae () is a large family (biology), family of flowering plants that consists of over 32,000 known species in over 1,900 genera within the Order (biology), order Asterales. The number of species in Asteraceae is rivaled only by the Orchi ...

. Its common names include common crupina, bearded-creeper, false saw-wort, and starry scabious.''Crupina vulgaris''.
Invasive Species Compendium. Wallingford, UK: CAB International. 2013. It is native to parts of

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

Asia Asia ( , ) is the largest continent in the world by both land area and population. It covers an area of more than 44 million square kilometres, about 30% of Earth's total land area and 8% of Earth's total surface area. The continent, which ...

, and

North Africa North Africa (sometimes Northern Africa) is a region encompassing the northern portion of the African continent. There is no singularly accepted scope for the region. However, it is sometimes defined as stretching from the Atlantic shores of t ...

, and it is known elsewhere as an

introduced species An introduced species, alien species, exotic species, adventive species, immigrant species, foreign species, non-indigenous species, or non-native species is a species living outside its native distributional range, but which has arrived ther ...

and often a

noxious weed A noxious weed, harmful weed or injurious weed is a weed that has been designated by an agricultural or other governing authority as a plant that is harmful to agricultural or horticultural crops, natural habitats or ecosystems, or humans or lives ...

.Altervista Flora Italiana, genere ''Crupina''
/ref> This winter annual herb produces a slender stem reaching about 120 cm (4 feet)''Crupina vulgaris''.
The Jepson eFlora 2013.''Crupina vulgaris''.
Burke Museum. University of Washington. in height. The ridged stem has many branches, and is leafy below. The basal leaves are entire, toothed, or divided, and have rough-haired surfaces and bristly edges. They generally wither by flowering. Leaves higher on the stem are up to 3.5 centimeters long and are divided into narrow lobes with bristly edges. The slender

flower head A pseudanthium (; : pseudanthia) is an inflorescence that resembles a flower. The word is sometimes used for other structures that are neither a true flower nor a true inflorescence. Examples of pseudanthia include flower heads, composite flowers ...

is about 1 or 2 centimeters long. It contains up to 5 florets, usually only one of which is fertile. It has a purple corolla. It yields one large fruit, a cypsela up to 1.6 centimeters long including its barrel-shaped body and its long, spreading pappus of brown or black bristles.''Crupina vulgaris''.
Flora of North America. It can weigh up to 36 milligrams. One average plant produces about 130 fruits.
Encycloweedia. California Department of Food and Agriculture. The

flower heads A pseudanthium (; : pseudanthia) is an inflorescence that resembles a flower. The word is sometimes used for other structures that are neither a true flower nor a true inflorescence. Examples of pseudanthia include flower heads, composite flowers ...

often fall off the plant after the seeds ripen, each containing one fruit, or occasionally two in heads that produced two fertile florets. The seeds fall out and are dispersed by the wind or on the feet of

livestock Livestock are the Domestication, domesticated animals that are raised in an Agriculture, agricultural setting to provide labour and produce diversified products for consumption such as meat, Egg as food, eggs, milk, fur, leather, and wool. The t ...

; they can be dispersed greater distances when floating on water or when transported by rodents, birds, or humans, including on machinery and in contaminated shipments of

hay Hay is grass, legumes, or other herbaceous plants that have been cut and dried to be stored for use as animal fodder, either for large grazing animals raised as livestock, such as cattle, horses, goats, and sheep, or for smaller domesticate ...

or grain.''Crupina vulgaris'' Cass. (common crupina) - Fact Sheet.
Canadian Food Inspection Agency. The seeds can pass unscathed through the guts of most animals, except

sheep Sheep (: sheep) or domestic sheep (''Ovis aries'') are a domesticated, ruminant mammal typically kept as livestock. Although the term ''sheep'' can apply to other species in the genus '' Ovis'', in everyday usage it almost always refers to d ...

. The

cotyledon A cotyledon ( ; ; "a cavity, small cup, any cup-shaped hollow", gen. (), ) is a "seed leaf" – a significant part of the embryo within the seed of a plant – and is formally defined as "the embryonic leaf in seed-bearing plants, one or mor ...

s of the seedling have a bright purple''Crupina vulgaris''.
Idaho's Noxious Weeds. Idaho OnePlan. University of Idaho. red, or purplish red midvein and margins. The plant can grow in a range of temperatures, moisture levels, and soil types, and in many types of habitat, including

field Field may refer to: Expanses of open ground * Field (agriculture), an area of land used for agricultural purposes * Airfield, an aerodrome that lacks the infrastructure of an airport * Battlefield * Lawn, an area of mowed grass * Meadow, a grass ...

pasture Pasture (from the Latin ''pastus'', past participle of ''pascere'', "to feed") is land used for grazing. Types of pasture Pasture lands in the narrow sense are enclosed tracts of farmland, grazed by domesticated livestock, such as horses, c ...

grassland A grassland is an area where the vegetation is dominance (ecology), dominated by grasses (Poaceae). However, sedge (Cyperaceae) and rush (Juncaceae) can also be found along with variable proportions of legumes such as clover, and other Herbaceo ...

s, roadsides, railroads, and dump sites. It is not invasive in its native range, but in regions where it has

naturalized Naturalization (or naturalisation) is the legal act or process by which a non-national of a country acquires the nationality of that country after birth. The definition of naturalization by the International Organization for Migration of the ...

, such as the rangelands of the western United States, it can negatively affect native flora through

competition Competition is a rivalry where two or more parties strive for a common goal which cannot be shared: where one's gain is the other's loss (an example of which is a zero-sum game). Competition can arise between entities such as organisms, indi ...

, reduce the quality of

forage Forage is a plant material (mainly plant leaves and stems) eaten by grazing livestock. Historically, the term ''forage'' has meant only plants eaten by the animals directly as pasture, crop residue, or immature cereal crops, but it is also used m ...

, and increase soil

erosion Erosion is the action of surface processes (such as Surface runoff, water flow or wind) that removes soil, Rock (geology), rock, or dissolved material from one location on the Earth's crust#Crust, Earth's crust and then sediment transport, tran ...

. The plant can form wide stands in fields. It is unpalatable to most grazing animals, which avoid it and selectively consume other grasses and herbs, allowing the weed to survive and spread. Sheep and

goat The goat or domestic goat (''Capra hircus'') is a species of Caprinae, goat-antelope that is mostly kept as livestock. It was domesticated from the wild goat (''C. aegagrus'') of Southwest Asia and Eastern Europe. The goat is a member of the ...

s will consume the plant, but are not effective agents of eradication. A number of natural enemies have been recorded, such as the

mite Mites are small arachnids (eight-legged arthropods) of two large orders, the Acariformes and the Parasitiformes, which were historically grouped together in the subclass Acari. However, most recent genetic analyses do not recover the two as eac ...

'' Aceria balasi'', which attacks the

inflorescence In botany, an inflorescence is a group or cluster of flowers arranged on a plant's Plant stem, stem that is composed of a main branch or a system of branches. An inflorescence is categorized on the basis of the arrangement of flowers on a mai ...

, the

moth Moths are a group of insects that includes all members of the order Lepidoptera that are not Butterfly, butterflies. They were previously classified as suborder Heterocera, but the group is Paraphyly, paraphyletic with respect to butterflies (s ...

s '' Clytie illunaris'', ''

Metzneria aprilella ''Metzneria aprilella'', the brilliant neb, is a moth of the family Gelechiidae. It is widely distributed throughout Europe. Outside of Europe, it is found in Turkey, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Iran and southern Siberia. The habitat consists of wast ...

'', and ''

Ornativalva plutelliformis ''Ornativalva plutelliformis'' is a moth of the family Gelechiidae. It was described by Staudinger in 1859. It is found from southern Europe and North Africa east to western Asia (including Turkmenistan and the United Arab Emirates) and China (Xin ...

'', which feed on the seeds, and the

weevil Weevils are beetles belonging to the superfamily Curculionoidea, known for their elongated snouts. They are usually small – less than in length – and herbivorous. Approximately 97,000 species of weevils are known. They belong to several fa ...

'' Styphlus penicillus'', which feeds on the leaves. '' Ramularia crupinae'', first described from the plant, is a pathogenic sac fungus that grows on its leaves. No agents of

biological pest control Biological control or biocontrol is a method of controlling pests, whether pest animals such as insects and mites, weeds, or pathogens affecting animals or plants by using other organisms. It relies on predation, parasitism, herbivory, or ot ...

have been established.

References

External links

''Crupina vulgaris''
United States Department of Agriculture plants profile
''Crupina vulgaris''
CalPhotos photo gallery, University of California

References

External links

Further reading