weed

A weed is a plant considered undesirable in a particular situation, "a plant in the wrong place". Examples commonly are plants unwanted in human-controlled settings, such as farm fields, gardens, lawns, and parks. Taxonomically, the term "weed" has no botanical significance, because a plant that is a weed in one context is not a weed when growing in a situation where it is wanted. In the same way, volunteer crops (plants) are regarded as weeds in a subsequent crop. The term weed is also applied to any plant that grows or reproduces aggressively, or is invasive outside its native habitat.More broadly, "weed" is occasionally applied pejoratively to species outside the plant kingdom, species that can survive in diverse environments and reproduce quickly; in this sense it has even been applied to humans. Some plants that are widely regard as weeds are intentionally grown in gardens and other cultivated settings, in which case they are sometimes called beneficial weeds.

Weed control is important in agriculture. Methods include hand cultivation with hoes, powered cultivation with cultivators, smothering with mulch or soil solarization, lethal wilting with high heat, burning, or chemical attack with herbicides.

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