Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-xbtfd Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-09T14:39:54.316Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Physical dormancy in seeds of six genera of Australian Rhamnaceae

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  22 February 2007

S.R. Turner*
Affiliation:
Kings Park and Botanic Garden, West Perth, WA 6005, Australia School of Plant Biology, Faculty of Natural and Agricultural Sciences, The University of Western Australia, Crawley, WA 6009, Australia
D.J. Merritt
Affiliation:
Kings Park and Botanic Garden, West Perth, WA 6005, Australia
C.C. Baskin
Affiliation:
Department of Biology, University of Kentucky, Lexington, Kentucky, 40506-0225, USA Department of Agronomy, University of Kentucky, Lexington, Kentucky, 40546-0321, USA
K.W. Dixon
Affiliation:
Kings Park and Botanic Garden, West Perth, WA 6005, Australia School of Plant Biology, Faculty of Natural and Agricultural Sciences, The University of Western Australia, Crawley, WA 6009, Australia
J.M. Baskin
Affiliation:
Department of Biology, University of Kentucky, Lexington, Kentucky, 40506-0225, USA
*
*Correspondence: Fax: +61 9480 3641, Email: [email protected]

Abstract

Physical dormancy (PY) was identified in six genera representative of Australian Rhamnaceae and subsequently was broken, based on identification of key seed dormancy characteristics: (1) isolation and classification of embryo features; (2) imbibition experiments to determine the rate and amount of water uptake in seeds; and (3) determination of optimum temperature regimes for germination. All six species had relatively large spatulate embryos. Imbibition studies showed all species possessed PY (i.e. a water-impervious seed coat) that was broken by a hot-water treatment. Alleviation of PY resulted in high germination (<70%) at 7/18°C, temperatures similar to winter in south-west Western Australia. Germination was suppressed at higher temperatures and in the presence of light. The study adds information to our knowledge of seed dormancy in Australian Rhamnaceae, and highlights the benefits of understanding dormancy states in seeds prior to evaluating dormancy-release mechanisms on wild species used in restoration ecology and horticulture.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2005

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Baskin, C.C., Baskin, J.M. (1998) Seeds: Ecology, biogeography and evolution of dormancy and germination. San Diego, Academic Press.Google Scholar
Baskin, J.M., Baskin, C.C. (2004) A classification system for seed dormancy. Seed Science Research 14, 116.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Baskin, J.M., Nan, X., Baskin, C.C. (1998) A comparative study of seed dormancy and germination in an annual and perennial species of Senna (Fabaceae). Seed Science Research 8, 501512.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Baskin, J.M., Baskin, C.C., Li, X. (2000) Taxonomy, anatomy and evolution of physical dormancy in seeds. Plant Species Biology 15, 139152.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Baskin, J.M., Davis, B.H., Baskin, C.C., Gleason, S.M., Cordell, S. (2004) Physical dormancy in seeds of Dodonaea viscosa ( Sapindales, Sapindaceae ) from Hawaii. Seed Science Research 14, 8190.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bell, D.T. (1993) The effect of light quality on the germination of eight species from sandy habitats in Western Australia. Australian Journal of Botany 41, 321326.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bell, D.T. (1999) Turner review No. 1: The process of germination in Australian species. Australian Journal of Botany 47, 475517.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bell, D.T., Bellairs, S.M. (1992) Effects of temperature on the germination of selected Australian native species used in land rehabilitation of bauxite mining disturbance in Western Australia. Seed Science and Technology 20, 4755.Google Scholar
Bell, D.T., Williams, D.S. (1998) Tolerance of thermal shock in seeds. Australian Journal of Botany 46, 221233.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bell, D.T., Vlahos, S., Watson, L.E. (1987) Stimulation of seed germination of understorey species of the northern jarrah forest of Western Australia. Australian Journal of Botany 35, 593599.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bell, D.T., Rokich, D.P., McChesney, C.J., Plummer, J.A. (1995) Effects of temperature, light and gibberellic acid on the germination of seeds of 43 species native to Western Australia. Journal of Vegetation Science 6, 797806.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bellairs, S.M., Bell, D.T. (1990) Temperature effects on the seed germination of ten kwongan species from Eneabba, Western Australia. Australian Journal of Botany 38, 451458.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bunker, K.V. (1994) Overcoming poor germination in Australian daisies (Asteraceae) by combinations of gibberellin, scarification, light and dark. Scientia Horticulturae 59, 243252.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Corrick, M.G., Fuhrer, B.A. (1996) Wildflowers of southern western Australia. Noble Park, Victoria, Five Mile Press.Google Scholar
Dixon, K.W., Roche, S., Pate, J.S. (1995) The promotive effect of smoke derived from burnt native vegetation on seed germination of Western Australian plants. Oecologia 101, 185192.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Hagon, M.W. (1976) Germination and dormancy of Themeda australis, Danthonia spp., Stipa bigeniculata and Bothriochloa macra. Australian Journal of Botany 24, 319327.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hanley, M.E., Lamont, B.B. (2000) Heat pre-treatment and the germination of soil and canopy stored seeds of southwest Australian species. Acta Oecologica 21, 315321.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hodgkinson, K.C., Oxley, R.E. (1990) Influence of fire and edaphic factors on germination of the arid zone shrubs Acacia aneura, Cassia nemophila and Dodonaea viscosa. Australian Journal of Botany 38, 269279.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Keogh, J.A., Bannister, P. (1992) A method for inducing rapid germination in seed of Discaria toumatou Raoul. New Zealand of Botany 30, 113116.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Keogh, J.A., Bannister, P. (1994) Seed structure and germination in Discaria toumatou (Rhamnaceae). Weed Research 34, 481490.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Li, X., Baskin, J.M., Baskin, C.C. (1999) Physiological dormancy and germination requirements of seeds of several North American Rhus species ( Anacardiaceae ). Seed Science Research 9, 237245.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Marchant, N.G., Wheeler, J.R., Rye, B.L., Bennett, E.M., Lander, N.S., McFarlane, T.D. (1987) Flora of the Perth region, Part one. Perth, Western Australia Western Australian Herbarium, Department of Agriculture.Google Scholar
Martin, A.C. (1946) The comparative internal morphology of seeds. American Midland Naturalist 36, 513660.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Paczkowska, G., Chapman, A.R. (2000) The western Australian flora: A descriptive catalogue. Perth, Western Australia Wildflower Society Inc. Western Australian Herbarium, CALM and Botanic Gardens and Parks Authority.Google Scholar
Plummer, J.A., Bell, D.T. (1995) The effect of temperature, light, and gibberellic acid (GA 3 ) on the germination of Australian everlasting daisies (Asteraceae, Tribe Inulae). Australian Journal of Botany 43, 93102.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Roche, S., Koch, J.M., Dixon, K.W. (1997a) Smoke enhanced seed germination for mine rehabilitation in the southwest of Western Australia. Restoration Ecology 5, 191203.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Roche, S., Dixon, K.W., Pate, J.S. (1997b) Seed aging and smoke: partner cues in the amelioration of seed dormancy in selected Australian native species. Australian Journal of Botany 45, 783815.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Roche, S., Dixon, K.W., Pate, J.S. (1998) For everything a season: smoke-induced seed germination and seedling recruitment in a Western Australian Banksia woodland. Australian Journal of Ecology 23, 111120.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Schütz, W., Milberg, P., Lamont, B.B. (2002) Seed dormancy, after-ripening and light requirements of four annual Asteraceae in south-western Australia. Annals of Botany 90, 707714.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Thanos, C.A., Georghiou, K., Skarou, F. (1989) Glaucium flavum seed germination – an ecophysiological approach. Annals of Botany 63, 121130.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Tieu, A., Dixon, K.W., Meney, K.A., Sivasithamparam, K. (2001) The interaction of heat and smoke in the release of seed dormancy in seven species from southwestern Western Australia. Annals of Botany 88, 259265.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ward, S.C., Koch, J.M., Grant, C.D. (1997) Ecological aspects of soil seed-banks in relation to bauxite mining. I. Unmined jarrah forest. Australian Journal of Ecology 22, 169176.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wardlaw, I.F., Moncur, M.W., Totterdell, C.J. (1989) The growth and development of Caltha introloba F. Muell. II. The regulation of germination, growth and photosynthesis by temperature. Australian Journal of Botany 37, 291303.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Western, Australian Herbarium (1998) FloraBase—The Western Australian Flora. Kensington, Western Australia Department of Conservation and Land Management http://florabase.calm.wa.gov.au/(accessed 15 July 2004).Google Scholar