LAUSR

Eco-floristic study of weed flora of wheat crop under edaphic variation was conducted in tehsil Razar district Swabi, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan during February-April 2016. A total of 90 weed species distributed in 72 genera and 26 families were reported from 20 selected wheat fields/sites of the study area. Out of 26 families, 23 were dicots having (58 genera & 76 species) and 3 were monocots having (14 genera & 14 species). Fabaceae (14 species), Asteraceae (13 species) and Poaceae (11 species) were dominant families. They were followed by Brassicaceae (7 species), Caryophyllaceae (6 species) and Polygonaceae (5 species). The rest of families were represented by 4 or less than 4 species each. Annuals contributed 82 (91.1%) species while perennials shared 8 (8.9%) species. Therophytes and Nanophylls were dominant life form and leaf size contributed 80 (88.9%) and 42 (46.7%) species respectively. There were 63 (70%) species with simple leaves, 16 (17.8%) species with compound leaves and 11(12.2%) species were represented by dissected or decompound leaves. Physico-chemical analysis of soil revealed that soil texture varied from sandy-loam to sandyclay-loam, silt-loam, loam, sandy or loamy-sand. Soil pH ranged from 5.8 to 8.1. Soil Electrical conductivity (EC) varied from 0.06 dsm to 0.23 dsm. Soil Calcium carbonates (CaCO3) ranged from 5.5% to 23.5%. While soil organic matter (OM) varied from 0.15% to 1.94%. It was concluded that soil texture, pH, electrical conductivity, organic matter and Calcium carbonates were strong edaphic variables that gives rise to diverse weed species composition.