Studies on seed size and its influence on the process of weed germination are needed because of the importance of the species and scarcity of information regarding these plants'seed production. Thus, this study aimed to investigate the seed size variation of twelve weed species and the emergence of two of these species planted at different depths. The unit weight of 200 seeds was measured per weed species selected and non-accumulated frequency distribution curves were established for the weight of the species seeds, using the Gompertz model. After classification based on size (small, medium, and large) seeds of Ipomoea purpurea and Brachiaria decumbens were sown in field plots of 1.2 m² at different soil depths (2, 4, 6, 8, and 10 cm) of each treatment (depth); four repetitions were carried out. In general, the first study’s results indicated that one cannot refer to the weight of the seeds of the weed species studied considering only the mean of this feature, due to the large variation that can be found. This great variation in seed size may be associated with variations in the emergence patterns, verified in the second study on the species I. purpurea. The emergence speed index of I. purpurea was greater at 4 cm depth in the small seeds, 8 cm, in the medium seeds and from 6 to 10 cm depth in the large seeds.
biology; frequency distribution; Ipomoea purpurea; Brachiaria decumbens
