TY - JOUR AU - Ndam, Lawrence Monah AU - Ngone, Abwe Mercy AU - Nkongho, Raymond Ndip AU - Fongod, Augustina Genla Nwana AU - Fujii, Yoshiharu PY - 2021/04/18 Y2 - 2024/03/29 TI - Allelopathic Potentiality of Euphorbia hypericifolia L. on Germination and Seedling Development of Sympatric Crops and Weeds JF - International Annals of Science JA - Int. Ann. Sci. VL - 10 IS - 1 SE - Research Article DO - 10.21467/ias.10.1.134-150 UR - https://journals.aijr.org/index.php/ias/article/view/3587 SP - 134-150 AB - <p><em>Euphorbia hypericifolia</em>, a non-native herbaceous weedy plant was found to often form disproportionately dense, virtually monospecific stands in the Mount Bambouto Caldera, Cameroon. This observation is within the purview of allelopathy and is attributed to the release of botanicals by non native plants that harm naïve native flora, creating significant problems for agriculture and the environment. We investigated if the invasiveness of <em>E. hypericifolia</em> could be explained by its allelopathic potential at varying concentrations on five indicator plants. The results showed that the leaf, root and stem aqueous extracts of the plant exhibited significant inhibitory effects on the germination, radicle and plumule lengths of <em>Biden pilosa, Amaranthus spinosus, Lactuca sativa, Zea mays</em> and <em>Lycopersicon esculentum</em> at 100 % by 75.0, 69.4, 95.6, 28.0 and 97.2 %, respectively.  The leaf extract was the most potent, while the stem extract was the least. The extract of <em>E. hypericifolia</em> was stimulatory (Lower concentrations) and inhibitory to the germination and growth of the test plants and its effect was concentration-dependent with the roots of target plants being more sensitive to the extracts than the plumule. <em>L. esculentum</em> was the most susceptible species to E. hypericifolia extracts while <em>Z.  mays</em> was more tolerant than any of the tested plants. Results of total chlorophyll pigment accretion showed declining levels of chlorophyll detected in the leaves of tomato transplants cultivated in the augmented soils with rising dosage of the leaf residue of <em>E. hypericifolia.</em> <em>B. pilosa</em> planted on <em>E. hypericifolia</em> infested soil (EIS) showed very poor emergence recording only 7.5 % after 6 weeks as compared to 83.0 % in non <em>E. hypericifolia</em> infested soil (NIS). Qualitative phytochemical screening indicates <em>E. hypericifolia</em> is rich in secondary metabolites including alkaloids, glycosides, flavonoids, phenolics, tanins, Steriods and saponins. Acetone was the best extractant amongst the solvents used. This study has proven the allelopathic potential of <em>E. hypericifolia</em> and revealed some allelochemicals that may be exploited for the development of bioherbicides and plant growth promotion from natural products.</p> ER -