ABSTRACT

Generally, weeds have often been described as unwanted, undesirable, or problematic plants because these plants cause nuisance to crop plants, human habitation and society at large. Weedy plant species may seem out of place in a group of beneficial plants sometimes but nonetheless have been quite beneficial to man and animals. There are few reports on weedy grasses belonging to the family Poaceae. In this study, an investigation of common and prevalent grassy weeds on the University of Benin, Ugbowo Campus, Benin City was conducted and an inventory of the grassy weeds recorded was detailed. The grass weeds were surveyed, inventoried and some of them randomly collected from the various locations in the study area. The plant specimens were carefully collected and prepared asherbarium standard collections. Weedy grass species encountered were identified with standard (taxonomic guides such as ilustrative manuals, Holmgren and Keuken, 1974, L.drawings, 2012). A total of fifteen (15) grassy weeds species belonging to the following subfamilies of Poaceae (Pooideae, Bambusoideae, Arundinoideae, Chloridoideae, and Panicoideae) were identified and catalogued in this study. They include, Eleusine indica (Gaertner.) Panicum maximum (Simon and Jacobs), Eragrostis tenella (WightandAnn), Axonopus compressus (Beauv.),Cynodon dactylon(Pers), Zeamays(L.), Bambusa vulgaris(Wendi.), Pennisetum polystachion (Schult.), Seteria barbata(Kunth.), Digitaria horizontalis(Wild.), Dactyloctenium aegyptium (Wild.). The most frequently occurring species species include: Digitaria horizontalis,Panicum maximum,Seteria barbata and Eleusine indica were observed in all sampling sites. All species identified in this study were herbs with the exception of Bambusa vulgaris.