Interspecific variation in the allelopathic potential of the family Myrtaceae

Allelopathy is a type of biotic interference wherein a plant releases bioactive metabolites into an environment, thereby affecting the adjacent biota. Stressful environments stimulate the production of these metabolites. The present study tests the novel weapons hypothesis, which postulates that species belonging to the same genus and from the same environment have similar allelopathic effects. The aim of this study was to assess the allelopathic effects that the aqueous leaf extracts of 15 species belonging to five genera of the Myrtaceae family have on the seed germination and initial seedli...