ECOLOGICAL CHARACTERISTICS OF WEEDS OF ONION CROP OF UNIVERSITY OF PESHAWAR BOTANICAL GARDEN, DISTRICT NOWSHERA, PAKISTAN

Present research was carried out to enlist the weed flora in the fields of Onion (Allium cepa L.). Twenty one species of weeds of 11 families were documented. Asteraceae was the leading family with 5 species (23.80%), followed by Poaceae and Brassicaceae each with 3 species (14.28%) and Caryophyllaceae with 2 species (9.52%). The remaining famillies had one species each. Biological spectra indicated that therophytes (18 species 85.71%), geophytes (2 species 9.52%) and hemicryptophytes (1 species, 4.76%) were the life-form classes. Leaf-size spectra showed that nanophylls were leading leaf size class with 11 species (52.38%), followed by macrophylls (5 species. 32.80%), and mesophylls (3 species 14.28%). Leptophylls and microphylls had 1 species (4.76%) representation. Phenological studies showed that 71.42% weeds were in reproductive stage and 28.57% were in vegetative stage. Weeds offer competition with cultivated plants and must be eradicated to enhance the productivity.