Back Мімікрыя Вавілава Byelorussian Mimetisme vavilovià Catalan Mimetismo vaviloviano Spanish Mimétisme vavilovien French Mimetismo vaviloviano Italian ヴァヴィロフ型擬態 Japanese 바빌로프 의태 Korean Mimetismo vaviloviano Portuguese Мимикрия Вавилова Russian Vavilovs mimikry Swedish
In plant biology and agriculture, Vavilovian mimicry (also crop mimicry or weed mimicry[1]) is a form of mimicry in plants where a weed evolves to share characteristics with a crop plant through generations of involuntary artificial selection. It is named after the Russian plant geneticist Nikolai Vavilov.
Selection against the weed may occur by killing a young or adult weed, by separating its seeds from those of the crop by winnowing, or both. The process has operated since Neolithic times, creating secondary crops such as rye and oats through mimicry of cereals such as wheat.