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Ragweeds (Ambrosia) is a genus of flowering plants from the sunflower family (Asteraceae).

The name of this genus is derived from the Greek word for "food of the gods".

They occur in temperate regions of the northern hemisphere and South America. They prefer dry, sunny grassy plains, sandy soils, along river banks, along roadsides, disturbed soils, vacant lots and ruderal sites. Ragweed was far less common in the Eastern United States before dense European settlement/agriculture in the late 1700s.

There are about 30 species worldwide. They are very ordinary in appearance. Despite being all around, they are easily overlooked. Virtually no animal browses them. Many are adapted to the arid climates of the desert. Burrobush (Ambrosia dumosa) is one of the most arid-adapted perennials in North America. About 10 species occur in the Sonoran Desert.

These are annuals, perennials and shrubs and subshrubs with erect, hispid stems growing in large clumps to a height of 75 - 90 cm. The stems are basally branched. They form a slender taproot or a creeping rhizome.

The foliage is grayish to silvery green with bipinnatifid, deeply lobed leaves with winged petioles. But in the case of Ambrosia coronopifolia, the leaves are simple. The leaf arrangement is opposite at the base, but becomes alternate higher on the stem.

Ragweeds are used as food plants by the larvae of a number of Lepidoptera species. These include Bucculatrix leaf-miners, some of which feed exclusively on a particular species: B. agnella feeds on Ambrosia artemisiifolia, B. franseriae feeds on Ambrosia deltoidea and B. transversata feeds on Ambrosia psilostachya. B. ambrosiaefoliella and B. pomifoliella are polyphagous species which have been recorded feeding on Ambrosia. Another Ambrosia specialist is the gelechiid Chionodes mediofuscella.

Reproduction

Ambrosia is a monoecious plant, i.e. it produces separate male and female flower heads on the same plant. The numerous tiny male, yellowish-green disc flower are about 3 mm in diameter. They grow in a terminal spike, subtended by joined bracts. The female, whitish-green flowers are 1-flowered and are inconspicuously situated below the male ones, in the leaf axils. The pappus is lacking.

After anemophily (wind pollination), the female flowers develops into a prickly, ovoid burr with 9-18 straight spines. It contains one arrowhead-shaped seed, brown when mature, and smaller than a wheat grain. This burr gets dispersed by clinging to the fur or feathers of animals passing by. The seeds are in important winter food for many bird species.

Allergen

Each plant is reputed to be able to produce about a billion grains of pollen over a season, and the plant is anemophilous (wind-pollinated). It is highly allergenic, as the greatest pollen allergen of all pollens, and the prime cause of hayfever. The plant blooms in the northern hemisphere from about mid August until cooler weather arrives. It usually produces pollen more copiously in wet seasons. Two species, Ambrosia artemisiifolia and A. psilostachya are considered among the most noxious to those prone to hay fever.

Common Ragweed (Ambrosia artemisiifolia) is the most widespread of this genus in North America. It attains a height of about a meter. Great Ragweed, Giant Ragweed or Horseweed, (Ambrosia trifida), may grow to four meters (13 feet) or more.

Ragweed is a plant of concern in the global warming issue, because tests have shown that higher levels of carbon dioxide will greatly increase pollen production. On dry windy days, the pollen will travel many kilometers. When the humidity rises above 70%, the pollen tends to clump and is not so likely to become airborne.

Goldenrod is frequently blamed for hayfever, but simply happens to have a showy flower that blooms about the same time. Goldenrod is innocent, as it is entomophilous, ie. insect pollinated. Its pollen is heavy and sticky, and cannot become airborne.

Some high mountain and desert areas of North America used to be refuges for severe hay fever sufferers, who would go to such areas for relief during the pollen season, but increased human activity such as building and other disturbances of the soil, irrigation, and gardening, have encouraged ragweed to spread to these areas as well. Today, no area in the United States is ragweed pollen free, and moving can only offer a degree of relief. The ragweed was accidentally imported to Europe during WWI, it had adapted to the different environment successfully and has greatly spread since the 1950s. Hungary is currently the most heavily affected country in Europe (and possibly the entire world), especially since the early 1990s, when abandonment of communist-style collective agriculture left vast fields uncultivated, which were promptly invaded by ragweed.

Anecdotal claims are made of honey giving some relief for ragweed pollen allergies, which is noteworthy because honeybees do not visit ragweed flowers. However, during ragweed pollen shed, the pollen dusts every surface, and honeybees, being electrostatically charged, will accumulate some ragweed pollen. The pollen is frequently identified as a component of raw honey.

The major allergen protein has been identified as Amb a 1, a 38 kDa nonglycosylated protein, as well other allergens such as profilin and Ca++-binding proteins.

Control and Eradication

Total eradication of ragweed is considered impossible, owing to the plant's frugality and tremendous spore-producing capability. As of 2005, there is no known safe biological remedy (e.g. beetle or worm) to be used against ragweed in the open. Mechanical and chemical methods are available and should be used to control its spread.

The act of manually uprooting ragweeds, sometimes shown in the media for public awareness and propaganda purposes, is best avoided. It is ineffective, and skin contact may cause the onset of full-blown hayfever symptoms in persons with latent ragweed hyper-sensitivity.

Although the scythe and its motorized descendants have a reduced efficiency against ragweed, they remain indispensable tools, especially in populated areas and near delicate plantation, where herbicide use must be limited. Fighting ragweed with the scythe is a continuous process, because it is difficult to cut the plant right at the soil level, and the plant will regrow in two weeks (and often branch into three or four full-sized stems) if more than half an inch of the plant remains above the ground. Areas where ragweed has been reaped should be mowed down every three weeks to prevent regrowth.

It is considered important to control the spread of ragweed in large abandoned or uncultivated areas. Ragweed pollen can remain airborne for days and travel great distances, affecting people hundreds of miles away. One efficient method for large-scale ragweed extermination is chemical spraying. Because ragweed only reacts to some of the more aggressive herbicides, it is highly recommended to consult professionals when deciding on dosage and methodology, especially near urban areas. Some proven effective active ingredients include those that are gliphosat-based (Roundup, Gliphogan, Glialka), sulphosat-based (Medallon) and gluphosinat-ammonia based (Finale14SL). In badly infested areas usually 2 to 6.5 liters of herbicides are dispersed per hectare (equal to app. 0.2 to 0.7 US gallons per acre).

Species

 

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the "Ragweed".

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