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Tithonia diversifolia
Also called Mexican Sunflower, Japanese Sunflower, Mexican Sunflower Weed, Shrub Sunflower, Mexican Sunflower, Japanese Sunflower, Yellow Mexican Sunflower
In Singapore: Shrub Sunflower, Mexican Sunflower, Bolivian Sunflower, Tree Marigold (Grown in Singapore)
Tithonia diversifolia, the tree marigold, is a fast-growing weedy shrub or short-lived tree from Mexico and Central America, now grown widely in the tropics. It is valued for its showy yellow to orange flowers and as a cheap green fertilizer and forage crop, and it thrives with little fuss in warm, sunny conditions.
Tithonia diversifolia is a species of flowering plant in the family Asteraceae that is commonly known as the tree marigold, Mexican tournesol, Mexican sunflower, Japanese sunflower or Nitobe chrysanthemum. It is native to Mexico and Central America but has a nearly pantropical distribution as an introduced species. Depending on the area they may be either annual or perennial. It has shown great potential in raising the soil fertility in soils depleted in nutrients.
Research has shown its potential in benefiting poor African farmers. This plant is a weed that grows quickly and has become an option as an affordable alternative to expensive synthetic fertilizers. It has shown to increase plant yields and the availability of soil nutrients such as nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P), and potassium (K).
Tithonia diversifolia can grow in many different environmental conditions. It has a moderate drought tolerance. It is ideally grown in areas with an annual rainfall ranging from 1000–2000 mm and a temperature of 15-31 degrees Celsius.
This plant does not require a large amount of nutrients. As a weed it spreads rapidly, which allows its use as a forage crop in grazing or cut-and-carry systems.
A study on the use of this green fertilizer on tomato plants shows that this is a useful method to increase crop yields in order to benefit the farmer’s wealth. However, this is not without a serious look at the labour requirements. A different study found that, with maize, the overall labour demand versus the financial prospects is not worthwhile, especially in areas of unpredictable rainfalls.
[Contains information from Leaf Area Index (LAI) and Heritage Trees from data.gov.sg (National Parks Board), made available under the terms of the Singapore Open Data Licence version 1.0]
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Tithonia diversifolia by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts and the care summary drawn from them are shared under the same licence.
The care summary was written by AI (Claude, Anthropic) from the sources on this page, with general growing knowledge where they are silent. Check before relying on it.
Life form, climate and native range: World Checklist of Vascular Plants, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (CC BY 3.0), reformatted; see Plants of the World Online.
