Jump to content

Parthenium argentatum

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This is an old revision of this page, as edited by JamieF (talk | contribs) at 21:09, 29 April 2020 (→Range and habitat: citations and expansion on native range). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

Parthenium argentatum
Scientific classification
Kingdom:
Plantae
(unranked):
Angiosperms
(unranked):
Eudicots
(unranked):
Asterids
Order:
Asterales
Family:
Asteraceae
Tribe:
Heliantheae

Cass., 1819
Genus:
Parthenium
Species:
P. argentatum
Binomial name
Parthenium argentatum

Parthenium argentatum A. Gray, commonly known as the guayule (/ɡwaɪˈuːliː/ or /waɪˈuːleɪ/,[1] as in Spanish), is a perennial woody shrub in the aster family, Asteraceae, that is native to the Chichuahuan Desert; including the southwestern United States and northern Mexico. It was first documented by J.M. Bigelow in 1852 through the Mexican Boundary Survey and was first described by Asa Gray.[2] Natural Rubber, ethanol, non-toxic adhesives, and other specialty chemicals can be extracted from guayule.[3] An alternative source of latex that is hypoallergenic, unlike the normal Hevea rubber can also be extracted.[4] While Castilla elastica was the most widely used rubber source of Mesoamericans in pre-Columbian times, it appears they also used guayule, though less frequently.[5][6] The name "guayule" derives from the Nahuatl word ulli/olli, "rubber".

Range and habitat

Populations of native guayule are scattered throughout the rangeland of the Chihuahuan Desert and surrounding regions.[7] U.S. indigenous populations occur in the Trans Pecos region of southwestern Texas.[8] It can also be found in the low desert regions of Arizona, New Mexico, and some parts of Southern California and the Mexican states of Guayule is adapted to hot desert environments and grows well in well-drained desertFor sustainable production, guayule grows well in arid and semi arid areas of the southwestern United States,[9] North Central Mexico and regions with similar climates around the world. Because the guayule plant produces terpene resins, which are natural pesticides, it is resistant to many pests and diseases. Herbicides are primarily necessary for stand establishment. It can be found in the US states of New Mexico, Arizona, parts of Southern California, and west Texas and the Mexican states of Zacatecas, Coahuila, Chihuahua, San Luis Potosí, Nuevo León, and Tamaulipas.[10][11][12]

Commercial rubber latex source

In the 1920s, the plant saw a brief and intense amount of agricultural research when the Intercontinental Rubber Company in California produced 1400 tons of rubber after leaf blight decimated the Brazilian rubber industry. Guayule would again become a replacement for Hevea tree-produced latex during World War II when Japan cut off America's Malaysian latex resources.[13] The war ended before large-scale farming of the guayule plant began, and the project was scrapped, as it was cheaper to import tree-derived latex than to crush the shrubs for a smaller amount of latex.

Currently, PanAridus and Yulex are the only commercial producers of guayule natural rubber in the world. Yulex have partnered with Patagonia who are now making its Yulex wetsuit from Guayule derived plant stems in a 60/40 blend (60% guayule, 40% neoprene), reducing dependence on conventional neoprene.

In October 2015, the Bridgestone Corporation announced the creation of the first tires made entirely of guayule rubber, having built an experimental farm and biorubber research center in Mesa, Arizona the previous year. The guayule is grown in Mesa and Eloy, Arizona.[14][15][16]

Hypoallergenic properties

Experimental products made from guayule.

Recently, the guayule plant has seen a small but growing resurgence in research and agriculture[17] due to its hypoallergenic properties.[4] While Hevea-derived rubber contains proteins that can cause severe allergic reactions in a few people, guayule does not. With the AIDS crisis of the 1980s, the surge in rubber glove usage revealed how many people were allergic to latex (about 10% of health care workers, according to OSHA), and thereby created a niche market for guayule. There are synthetic alternatives for medical device products, but they are not as stretchable as natural rubber. Guayule performs like Hevea but contains none of the proteins that cause latex allergies.

Breeding and production

Selection of high-yielding guayule is complicated by its breeding system, which is primarily apomixis (asexual cloning via gametes). However, the breeding system is somewhat variable and considerable genetic variation exists within wild populations. Selection of high-yielding lines has been successful.[18]

Biofuel

Guayule's viability as a potential biofuel has been enhanced recently in light of commentary from a variety of experts, including Lester R. Brown of the Earth Policy Institute, stating that "[food based] biofuels pit the 800 million people with cars against the 800 million people with hunger problems,"[19] meaning that biofuels derived from food crops (like maize) raise world food prices. Guayule can be an economically viable biofuel crop that does not increase the world's hunger problem.[20] Guayule has another benefit over food crops as biofuel - it can be grown in areas where food crops would fail.

See also

  • Taraxacum kok-saghyz; the rubber dandelion, produces similar hypoallergenic rubber, even in cold climates

References

  1. ^ "guayule". Oxford English Dictionary (Online ed.). Oxford University Press. (Subscription or participating institution membership required.)
  2. ^ Lloyd, F. E. (1911). Guayule (parthenium argentatum gray), a rubber-plant of the chihuahuan desert. Washington, D.C.: Carnegie Institution of Washington.
  3. ^ "Guayule" (PDF). The University of Arizona College of Agriculture & Life Sciences. Retrieved 29 April 2020.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  4. ^ a b DuHamel, Jonathan (2018-06-30). "Guayule, A Desert Rubber Plant". Arizona Daily Independent. Retrieved 2019-06-08.
  5. ^ Tarkanian, Michael J.; Hosler, Dorothy (2011). "AMERICA'S FIRST POLYMER SCIENTISTS: RUBBER PROCESSING, USE AND TRANSPORT IN MESOAMERICA". Latin American Antiquity. 22 (4): 469–486. ISSN 1045-6635.
  6. ^ Evans, Susan Toby; Webster, David L. (2001). Archaeology of Ancient Mexico and Central America: An Encyclopedia. Taylor & Francis. p. 69. ISBN 978-0-8153-0887-4.
  7. ^ McGinnies, W.G.; Mills, J.L. (1980). Guayule Rubber Production: The World War II Emergency Rubber Project. Tucson, AZ: Office of Arid Lands Studies, University of Arizona.
  8. ^ Hammond, B.L.; Polhamus, L.G. (1965). "Research on Guayule (Parthenium argentatum): 1942-1959". USDA Technical Bulletin No. 1327: 157.
  9. ^ Lee, Russell (1941). "Salinas, California. Intercontinental Rubber Producers cultivating two-year guayule plants. Guayule grows wild in parts of Texas, Arizona, and Mexico. The only cultivated fields of guayule are at Salinas". www.loc.gov. Retrieved 2019-06-08.
  10. ^ "Identification of Guayule Regions in Northern Mexico, Based on Rubber Yield and Coproducts Quality". hort.purdue.edu.
  11. ^ Bowers, Janice Emily (1990). Natural rubber-producing plants for the United States. U.S. Dept. of Agriculture, National Agricultural Library. p. 20. hdl:2027/uiug.30112020072465.
  12. ^ "Plants Profile for Parthenium argentatum (guayule)". plants.usda.gov. Retrieved 2019-06-08.
  13. ^ "Guayule cultivation. United States--California--Monterey County--Salinas Valley". Prints & Photographs Online Catalog (Library of Congress). 1942. Retrieved 2019-06-08.
  14. ^ Bridgestone. From Seed to Tread: Bridgestone Reveals First Tires Made Entirely of Natural Rubber Components from Company’s Guayule Research Operations. October 1, 2015.
  15. ^ Godfrey, Trevor. Bridgestone opens research center in Mesa. East Valley Tribune. September 21, 2014.
  16. ^ Durham, Sharon (March 30, 2017). "Improved variety of guayule plant as a natural source of tire rubber". phys.org. Retrieved 2019-06-08.
  17. ^ "Guayule: A Source of Natural Rubber". hort.purdue.edu.
  18. ^ Ray, Dennis T.; Terry A. Coffelt; David A. Dierig (2004). "Breeding Guayule for commercial production". Industrial Crops and Products. 22 (1): 15–25. doi:10.1016/j.indcrop.2004.06.005.
  19. ^ Grunwald, Michael (2008-03-27). "The Clean Energy Scam". TIME.
  20. ^ Wright, Julie (2008-04-03). "World needs alternatives to biofuels from food crops". Guayule Blog. Archived from the original on 2009-09-14. Retrieved 2009-09-03.

Media related to Parthenium argentatum at Wikimedia Commons Data related to Parthenium argentatum at Wikispecies

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Parthenium_argentatum&oldid=953941584"