Baskin, Jerry M. , Baskin, Carol C. , Dixon, Kingsley W. .
Physical dormancy in the endemic Australian genus Stylobasium, a first report for the family Surianaceae (Fabales).
THE intact germination unit (seed + endocarp, [“seed”]) of the two species of the Australian endemic genus Stylobasium (Surianaceae, Fabales) is water-impermeable. Thus, the seed does not imbibe water or germinate until the integrity of the endocarp, which contains an outer layer of palisade cells, is disrupted. In this study, intact seeds of S. australe and of S. spathulatum incubated on a moist substrate (for up to two years) did not imbibe water, whereas those that were mechanically scarified or dipped in boiling water for 30 s imbibed and germinated. Thus, seeds of Stylobasium species have physical dormancy (PY). This is the first report of PY in Surianaceae, making it only the sixteenth family of angiosperms (no gymnosperms) in which this class of seed dormancy has been identified. -DU
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1 - University of Kentucky, Department of Biological Sciences, 101 Morgan Bld, Lexington, Kentucky, 40506-0225, USA
2 - Plant Science Division, Kings Park and Botanic Garden, West Perth, Western Australia, 6005, Australia
physical seed dormancy
Presentation Type: Oral Paper:Papers for Sections
Date: Monday, July 31st, 2006
Time: 11:00 AM