Abstract:
The ability of Chromolaena odorata to acclimate under different soil textures was studied
for understanding invasion success of the plant. This study was conducted at the Faculty
of Engineering, University of Ruhuna at Galle. Plants were cultivated under sandy loam,
clay loam, and clay soils. Each experiment contained six replicates and subjected to three
different soil textures as randomized block design. C. odorata grown in sandy loam soil was
80% higher in relative growth rate, 82.27% higher in total dry weight, and 82.66% greater
than the root dry weight compared with the plants grown under clay soils. Moreover,
highest seedling height of 79.0 cm was observed in sandy loam soil. However, root weight
ratio was not significantly different among the three treatments. Morphological variations
of the plants grown in clay loam and sandy loam are not significantly different. Seedling,
mortality was not observed under any soil texture, which may explain their tolerance to
heterogeneous conditions. Overall, C. odorata showed growth retardation under clay
soils and reduction in relative growth rate, height and reduced biomass accumulation
for both above ground and below ground biomass. These results indicate that C. odorata
growth and morphological performances were similar under the sandy loam and clay loam
texture while poor in clay condition. The presence of plasticity in response to soil texture
conditions suggest that C. odorata can survive in a broad range of soil types by changing
morphological characters.