%A Aifang Li, Xianming Gao, Weiguang Dang, Jinfang Wang %T Growth trends of Crofton weed (Eupatorium adenophorum) seedlings in different habitats %0 Journal Article %D 2007 %J Biodiv Sci %R 10.1360/biodiv.060231 %P 479-485 %V 15 %N 5 %U {https://www.biodiversity-science.net/CN/abstract/article_7369.shtml} %8 2007-09-20 %X Crofton weed () seeds took a speculative strategy to germinate, and its seeds would germinate at any time all the year round as long as the conditions were suitable. The peak of the seeds’ germination occurred in the rainy season while few seeds germinated during the dry seasons. The un-flowering individuals of Crofton weed keep growing all year, and its growth rate would be influenced by the illumination intensity, humidity and temperature distinctly. The results showed that all of the growth pa-rameters of seedlings germinating during autumn changed slowly in the dry season. The optimum habitat was the sunny sites, then entirely shaded ones, and the shrub habitats were the last. The fastest growth of the seedlings period began in June and ended in October. Usually the seedling would flower and seed during the first dry season, but those germinated later or did not develop well would keep vegetative growth without flowering. The growth dynamic of un-flowering seedlings was similar to those flowering and seeding, but the life history periods between them were different: only those crossing two or enven more winters could the former seedlings bloom and fructify to finish their life history circle. The result of this study further indicated that reinforcement each other of both sexual reproduction and clone would promote the renewal and spread of their population increase of Crofton weed.