Weed leaf area knowledge can provide a support to study the relationships of interference between weeds and crops. The objective of this research was to determine a mathematical equation to estimate the leaf area of Merremia aegyptia based on the relation among the linear measures of the leaf blades. Leaves of this species were gathered from different places at Sao Paulo State University, Jaboticabal, Brazil, by measuring length (L), maximum width (W,) and leaf area of three types of leaflets. Linear equations (Y = a*X) were estimated for each type of leaflet. The leaf area of the species can be estimated by the sum of the leaf areas of each leaflet type according to the equation LAest = 0.547470(X) + 1.145298(Y) + 1.244146(Z), where X indicates L*W of the main leaflet, and Y and Z indicate the medium L*W of the primary and secondary leaflets, respectively.
weed; growth; hairy woodrose
