Rhamphicarpa fistulosa

Rhamphicarpa fistulosa (common name: rice vampireweed) is a flowering plant species in the family Orobanchaceae (formerly in the family Scrophulariaceae)[1] - and the genus Rhamphicarpa.[2][3][4][5][6] The plant is pale-green but can turn reddish towards maturity. It has needle-like leaves and white flowers with long corolla tubes.[7] The flowers only open after sunset and are supposedly pollinated by night moths.[8] The plant has a broad distribution in Africa (from Guinea to Madagascar and from Sudan to South Africa) and can also be found in New Guinea and northern Australia.[6]

Rhamphicarpa fistulosa
Flower of Rhamphicarpa fistulosa
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
(unranked):	Angiosperms
(unranked):	Eudicots
(unranked):	Asterids
Order:	Lamiales
Family:	Orobanchaceae
Genus:	Rhamphicarpa
Species:	R. fistulosa
Binomial name
Rhamphicarpa fistulosa (Hochst.) Benth.

A rice farmer in the Casamance (southern Senegal) showing R. fistulosa invading her crop; Photo: J. Rodenburg (AfricaRice).

R. fistulosa is pale green with needle-like leaves; Photo: J. Rodenburg (AfricaRice)

Rhamphicarpa fistulosa is an annual facultative hemi-parasitic forb species.[8] It is a very widespread species in seasonally flooded wetlands in tropical and sub-tropical Africa, and it is increasingly important as a parasitic weeds in rain-fed lowland rice systems in Africa,[9][10][11][12][13] where yield losses of more than 60% are typically reported.[14] It is particularly a problem in rice fields prone to temporary, uncontrolled flooding.[14][15] Management strategies against Rhamphicarpa fistulosa are limited;[16][17] hand-weeding, permanent flooding, fertilizer applications and the use of herbicides are currently known, effective control measures.[11][18] In addition, a number of high-yielding, resistance and tolerant rice varieties has recently been identified.[19]

A team of researchers from the Africa Rice Center (AfricaRice),[20] Wageningen University, FAO and the national research centers of Tanzania (MARI), Cote d'Ivoire (CNRA) and Benin (INRAB), investigates the importance of this species as a parasitic weed to rice [9] and tries to elucidate its biology, ecology and host damage mechanisms [21][22] and to develop, with participating farmers, management strategies. The economic and social determinants [23] and impact is also studied and national extension and crop protection systems are analyzed [24][25][26] with the aim to identify constraints and challenges for the effective control and prevention of invasive pests [27] such as Rhamphicarpa fistulosa. The project, called PARASITE [28] is funded by the Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research - Science for Global Development and receives additional financial support through the CGIAR[29] Research Program on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security (CCAFS).[30] The PARASITE project (www.parasite-project.org) has so far resulted in 10 published SCI journal papers.

Other groups working on Rhamphicarpa fistulosa: Laboratory of Applied Ecology, Department of Natural Research Management, Faculty of Agronomic Sciences, University of Abomey-Calavi, P.O. Box 526, Cotonou, Benin; AgroSup Dijon, UMR 1347 Agro-ecologie Pôle EcolDur, 17 rue Sully, BP 86510, 21065 Dijon cedex, France.