Wedelia glauca (Asteraceae) popularly known as sunchillo, is a perennial weed widely spread in Argentina. Field observations show the existence of communities dominated by W. glauca, reducing the density of other associated herbaceous species. The objective of this work was to study the action of aqueous extracts of rhizome and leaves of W. glauca on the germination and radicle elongation of three horticultural crops: Lycopersicon esculentum, Cucumis sativus and Rhapanus sativus. Extracts were prepared from rhizomes and milled leaves and to which 600 ml of distilled water was added, respectively. Treatments were pure extract and dilutions with distilled water, (25, 50 and 75%). The design was completely randomized with four replications. Germination percentage and radicle length (cm) was determined. Data were analyzed by means of ANOVA and the Tukey for the mean comparison. The results provides showed that W. glauca has alellopathic potential under controlled conditions. Aqueous extracts of leaves presented more intense alellopathic potential activity than the rhizome extracts, demonstrated through marked inhibitions in germination and radicle growth of the test species.
Aqueous extracts; rhizomes; leaves; germination; root growth
