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Definition of Weeds
• A plant out of place or growing where it is not
wanted, e.g. a cotton plant in an oil palm plantation
would be considered a weed
• A plant that is growing where it is desired that
something else shall grow.
• The definitions above do not describe the impacts of weeds on
humans and the environment but also disregard some fundamental
biological features that set them apart from most other plants.
• The better definition: Plants that interfere with the growth of
desirable plants and are unusually persistent. They damage cropping
systems, natural systems and human activities and as such are
undesirable.

AGR524 Plantation Weed Management Introduction 1

• Some "weeds" are useful, e.g., Turnera

subulata in oil palm plantation
• Weeds that are not always weeds:
Cynodon dactylon (Bermuda grass) -
forage crop and turf species vs. weed in
crops
Ipomoea purpurea (Morning glory) -
ornamental vine vs. weed in crops
• Weed Science – study of ecology, life
cycle, and management of weeds

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Characteristics of Weeds
• Great longevity of seeds

• Germination is fulfilled in many environments

• Continuous and abundant seed production and germination

• Rapid and vigorous growth

• Self compatible/can be cross pollinated by unspecialized agent/wind

• Adaptable for short and long distance dispersal

• High ability to compete interspecifically

• May harm crop plants (competition for resources, shading effects,

allelopathy)

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Classification of Weeds
– Habitat
• Terretial – weeds that live on land
E.g. Imperata cylindrica,
Echinochloa crusgalli

• Aquatic – structurally and

physiologically modified to live in
or around water E.g. Cyperus
spp., Limnocharis flava

• Aerial – not rooted in soil, depend

on other plant for support, may be
parasitic or epiphytic E.g. wild
orchids, ferns

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Classification of Weeds
– Life Cycle (Herbaceous Weeds)
• Have non-woody above ground plant part
• Annuals – completes life cycle in one year (i.e.,
germinates from seed, grows, flowers, produces
seed, and dies in the same season). E.g.
Amaranthus spp., Eleusine indica
• Biennials – produces leaves and stores food the
first year (vegetative), and produces fruits and
seeds (reproductive) the second year; completes
life cycle in less than 2 years. E.g. Daucus carota
• Perennials – lives from year to year; does not
depend on seed production for survival but
produces rhizomes, stolons, tubers, fleshy
roots, etc., that store food reserves for
regrowth. E.g. Cynodon dactylon, Cyperus
rotundus

AGR524 Plantation Weed Management Introduction 5

Classification of Weeds
– Life Cycle (Woody Perennial Weeds)
• All woody weeds are perennials
• Shrubs – E.g. Lantana camara,
Melastoma malabathricum
• Trees – E.g. Acacia
auriculiformis, Gossypium spp.

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Classification of Weeds -
morphology
• Dicots (Broadleaves) – plants with 2 cotyledon,
reticulated leaf venation, flowers single, compound
or in groups, e.g. Asystasia gangetica, Ageratum
conyzoides
• Monocots - plants with only 1 cotyledon, parallel
leaf venation, flowers inconspicous
a. Grasses – stems hollow except at nodes,
bunchy or creeping growth habitsusually have
ligules and some auricles, e.g. Axonopus
compressus, Cynodon dactylon
b. Sedges – Lack ligules and auricles, stems
solid, cylindrical or triangular with solid internodes,
e.g. Cyperus rotundus, Cyperus haspan

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Common Broadleaves

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Common Grasses and Sedges

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Classification of Weeds -
physiology
• C3 plants – carbon fixation in
photosynthesis occurs via Calvin-Benson
Cycle; first stable product: 3-carbon
phosphoglyceric acid, e.g. Asystasia
gangetica, Ageratum conyzoides

• C4 plants – first stable product of carbon

fixation is 4-carbon maleic acid; they are
more efficient and better competitors
especially in areas of high temperatures,
e.g. Amaranthus spp., Echinochloa crus-
galli

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Homework
• Get to know 10 plants commonly known as weeds in a paddy field

• Get to know 10 plants commonly known as weeds in an estate

Indicate their classification by habitat, life cycle, morphology and

physiology

AGR524 Plantation Weed Management Introduction 11