Streaky Silphie
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Streaky Silphie ( Silphium perfoliatum ) |
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The streaky Silphie ( Silphium perfoliatum ) is a species of plant from the Asteraceae family that is native to North America . It is a perennial plant that can be grown as an energy crop due to its large biomass production .
features
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The streaky Silphie reaches a height of up to three meters. It has square stems with wide internodes . The leaves are medium green, toothed on the leaf margin, undivided, lanceolate, opposite and hairy. What is striking are the pairs of leaves that have grown together on the stem , which in this way form small "cups" in which condensation and rainwater collect. This feature leads to the name cup plant , which is widespread in the English-speaking world , in German " cup plant". Due to this property, the through-grown Silphie is adapted to dry locations, as it can use the water supply in dry times for itself. The inflorescences contain (as with most of the daisy family) tubular and ray florets . The ray-florets are yellow. The inflorescences are single, terminal, 6 to 8 cm in size and relatively small in relation to the considerable growth height. The flowering period extends from July to September. Propagation takes place via seeds, sowing from April, longer cooling phases for germination are favorable. In agriculture, the planting of vigorous young plants is sometimes preferred, since sowing does not go quite as smoothly with intensive cultivation and often leads to defects in the stand.
The number of chromosomes is 2n = 14.
distribution
The streaky Silphie comes from the temperate climate zone of North America and is common in the eastern states of the USA and Canada.
use
Use as a forage plant
In Germany, it is grown by individual farms as fodder and silage crops. It is popular with allotment gardeners because of its extensive cultivation and longevity as a useful plant. The same is true for beekeepers, as the composites are interesting for bees and other insects. It is ideal as green fodder for pets such as rabbits, guinea pigs, sheep or goats.
Use as an energy crop
The streaky Silphie is seen as a potential energy plant and is particularly interesting because of its adaptation to dry locations, since, unlike maize, for example, it can draw its moisture not only from the soil, but also from the leaf cups. It is also characterized by high biomass and a high biogas yield , which are comparable to energy maize . From the second year onwards, the cultivated Silphie produces between 13 and 20 tons of biomass per hectare of cultivated area. In tests in Thuringia, yields of 18 to 28 t dry matter were achieved from the second year of standing.
Since the streaky Silphie occurs in North America in areas comparable to Central European climates and survives longer cold spells without damage, it can also be grown in Europe without any problems. It can be harvested regularly over a period of at least ten years. The fact that the Silphie is several years old offers further advantages over maize. Since the soil is shaded by the foliage, no herbicides are required from the second year of cultivation . In addition, soil erosion is largely avoided. A fertilizer is no longer necessary in the second year of cultivation.
However, the costs in the first year of planting are relatively high. No-till sowing based on the current state of the art is not recommended, as the young plants are not yet competitive enough against weeds. Instead, we recommend planting pre-cultivated young plants. Even then, weed control is necessary in the first year, as the plants initially only develop a rosette of leaves on the ground and are still weakly competitive. Since 2014, the approval for the herbicide Stomp Aqua (active ingredient: Pendimethalin ) has been extended to the streaky Silphie. Nevertheless, weeds usually still have to be fought with a machine hoe. The high costs in the first year of cultivation have so far represented a barrier to cultivation in practice, even if these are of little economic importance due to the low costs in the following years and the long service life.
Plant protection products (except in the first year) and mineral fertilizers may not be used on an area with streaky silphies, which is designated as area used in the environmental interest ( Section 32c of the Direct Payments Implementation Ordinance).
Recent research has shown that mixed seeding with maize could be promising in the first year. According to this, the maize produces around 75% of its yield in monoculture this year and thus compensates for the fact that the Silphie only brings a very low yield in the first year. In contrast to a pure Silphie culture, this means that a harvest can also be brought in in the first year. From the second year on, only the silphies are harvested.
Use as a bee pasture
The streaky Silphie is also considered a good pasture for bees . It blooms from June to September and therefore at a time when honey bees can no longer find too much nectar . The annual honey yields can be more than 150 kg / ha.
Web links
- Silphium perfoliatum L., Streaky Silphie. In: FloraWeb.de.
- Silphium perfoliatum L. In: Info Flora , the national data and information center for Swiss flora . Retrieved April 23, 2016.
- Thomas Meyer: Silphie data sheet with identification key and photos at Flora-de: Flora von Deutschland (old name of the website: Flowers in Swabia )
- Portrait on energy-plants.info
- Portrait in the USDA Plants database
Individual evidence
- ^ Research results from the Institute for Plant Ecology at the University of Bayreuth
- ^ Erich Oberdorfer : Plant-sociological excursion flora for Germany and neighboring areas . With the collaboration of Angelika Schwabe and Theo Müller. 8th, heavily revised and expanded edition. Eugen Ulmer, Stuttgart (Hohenheim) 2001, ISBN 3-8001-3131-5 , pp. 924 .
- ↑ K. Arnold, J. von Geibler, K. Bienge, C. Stachura, S. Borbonus and K. Kristof: Potentials of bioenergy. Chances and Risks for Agricultural Enterprises , DLG-Verlag, Volume 204, pp. 158–159, ISBN 978-3-7690-3160-7
- ↑ Detailed article in: Westfalenpost from May 5, 2012
- ↑ New raw material: perennial plants , press release of the University of Bayreuth from September 29, 2009
- ↑ Corn no longer needs to be misused . In: Wirtschaftswoche , September 13, 2016. Accessed September 15, 2016.
- ↑ BASF: Instructions for use Stomp Aqua (PDF: 303 kB).
- ↑ Thuringian State Research Center for Agriculture 2008: Cultivation telegram through-growing Silphie (Silphium perfoliatum L.) , pdf
- ↑ Article 46 Paragraph 2 lit. l of Regulation (EU) No. 1307/2013
- ↑ a b German biogas industry advertises US plant . In: Bizz Energy , August 17, 2016. Retrieved August 19, 2016.