This experiment aimed to characterize growth, development and seed production of the weed Chloris polydactyla. Sixteen periodic growth evaluations were carried out to quantify phenology, leaf area and dry weight (total, shoot and roots) of the plants. Absolute (G) and relative (R) growth rates were also calculated. The number of floral racemes of 28 plants, the length of 100 random racemes and the number of seeds present in 100 units of 10 mm of raceme were quantified after flowering. It was observed that C. polydactyla has slow initial development and growth, since it initiated flowering and seed production just at 112 days after seeding. It is a species with great final growth potential and seed production, since a single tiller and the whole plant were able to produce more than 3,000 and 30,000 seeds, respectively. The initial slow growth of this plant does not favor the interspecific competition in agricultural fields, especially sugarcane crops, where it is found more frequently colonizing carriers and adjacent areas. However, its great seed production suggests that this weed can become increasingly important in sugarcane crops.
biology; Chloris polydactyla; seed production; reproduction
