A CHECKLIST OF THE WEEDS GROWING IN THE MAIZE CROP AT MANKIAL VALLEY HINDUKUSH RANGE, PAKISTAN

Distributions of 31 weed species belonging to 15 families were recorded in maize fields from five sites in Mankial valley from June to September, 2012. Poaceae was the leading family with 7 species, followed by Polygonaceae with 4 species and Amaranthaceae with 3 species. Asteraceae, Brassicaceae, Chenopodiaceae, Plantaginaceae and Lamiaceae had 2 species each. Balsaminaceae, Caryophyllaceae, Convolvulaceae, Equisetaceae, Malvaceae, Onagraceae and Portulacaceae were each represented by one species. The composition of the weed species differed at each site. Amaranthus was among the top three species at three sites; Portulaca, Pennisetum, Rumex and Equisetum were each among the top three species in two fields. Communities’ formation was Fagopyrum-Portulaca-Amaranthus (with IVI of 56.02, 50.87 and 44.78 respectively), Pennisetum-Rumex- Portulaca (with IVI 40.41, 32.43, 30.63 respectively), Sorghum- Equisetum-Portulaca (with IVI 54.95, 46.26 and 34.95 respectively), Pennisetum-Rumex-Amaranthus (with IVI 63.87, 42.87 and 38.75 respectively) and Equisetum-Amaranthus-Malva (with IVI 99.05, 32.73 and 25.81 respectively).