Storage and germination treatments for seeds of an ornamentally important palm, Livistona rotundifolia (Lam.) Mart.

Abstract

Livistona rotundifolia (Lam.) Mart. is an ornamentally important plant in Sri Lanka with a high demand for both cut foliage and pot plant production for the foreign market. Propagation through seeds, poor germination and the storage of seeds are the main constraints in L. rotundifolia cultivation. During the current study, seed germination and storage behaviour of L. rotundifolia have been investigated to identify the causes for its poor germination and poor storability. The moisture content of seeds was determined using the oven-dry method. Germination of the seeds was studied under light/dark and dark conditions and the embryo : seed ratio was determined in fresh seeds and in seeds soon after the radicle emergence. The effect of storage at eight different storage conditions was evaluated. The seeds had a moisture content of 36.8 % suggesting that they are recalcitrant. Recalcitrancy of seeds is further supported where none of the seeds germinated when they were stored at −2 o C. Freshly collected seeds germinated only in dark conditions (58 %). Even in dark conditions, the seeds took 2 months to complete germination. Although seeds had a low embryo : seed ratio, it remained unchanged during germination. Thus, the dormancy of seeds can be categorized as the non-deep physiological dormancy. This is the first record of a species producing seeds with no morphological dormancy in Arecaceae. The seeds stored in polythene bags with coir dust at 4 − 8 o C showed the highest survival (97 %) and thus, this treatment can be recommended to store L. rotundifolia seeds for a minimum of 5 months.

Pre-germination Treatments, Quality of Light and Temperature on Syagrus coronata (Mart.) Becc. Seeds Germination

“…Given these results, the species can be characterized as neutral photoblastic, because, in addition to having greater germination capacity in the dark, the seeds also germinate in the presence of light. This condition of neutral photoblastism is not a rule for family Arecaceae, because Sanjeewani et al (2013) observed that Livistona rotundifolia (Lam.) Mart, a species that also belongs to this family, only germinated in the absence of light, after 30 days of incubation.…”

“…In addition to dormancy, there are other variables that affect seed germination, such as light and temperature. Regarding family Arecaceae, temperature and light variation have already been studied by different authors, which determined what conditions result in the best germination potential for these species (Pérez et al, 2008;Pimenta et al, 2010;Ribeiro et al, 2011;Sanjeewani et al, 2013;Rodrigues et al, 2014).…”

Seed viability of five wild Saudi Arabian species by germination and X-ray tests

“…Petri dishes were randomly distributed in temperature-controlled incubators and their position was changed daily. Germination was defined as the first emergence of the radicle (Sanjeewani et al, 2014). Newly-germinated seeds were counted each day for 30 d and subsequently removed from the Petri dishes.…”

Morpho-anatomical characterization of diaspores and seedlings of Livistona rotundifolia

“…The inflorescence is a panicle of small yellowish flowers followed by clusters of yellow fruits, ripening to orange-red to red or to dark violet or black (DOWE, 2009). Seeds are recalcitrant, exhibit a low embryo: seed ratio, require darkness for germination, and show a slight non-deep physiological dormancy (SANJEEWANI et al, 2013). As stated by Viana et al (2013), pulp removal increases germination rate whereas seed storage decreases the percentage of germinated seeds.…”