Effects of the Environment of the Mother Plant on Germination by Control of Seed-Coat Permeabilit to Water in Ononis Sioula Guss.

Abstract

The time corse of imbibition in seeds of Ononis sicula Guss. was more rapid when the mother plants were grown in 8-hr, days (short-day seeds) than in 20-hr, days (long-day seeds), outdoors as well as in a greenhouse. Once imbibed, seeds invariably germinated within 48 hr. Desiccated seeds from all these treatments entirely failed to imbibe, but when scarified they all imbided and germinated fully within 48 hr. The level of seed-coat impermeability to water increased somewhat after storage for 2 years without changing the qualitative effects of day length. Differences in kinetics of imbibition due to outdoors v. greenhouse conditions were observed in long-day seeds only when freshly harvested, in and short-day seeds after storage for 2 years. The results are interpreted in terms of differential environmental control over various partial processes of seed and pod maturation. The ecological implications of the results are discussed.