Salt stress responses in Lasthenia glabrata, a winter annual composite endemic to saline soils

Abstract

Several populations of Lasthenia glabrata Lindl. were grown through a complete life cycle in a range of salinities and evaluated in terms of relative salt tolerance. Parameters included emergence, growth, flowering, chloride accumulation, yield, and studies on the breeding system. A second part of the study consisted of germinating the populations in tap water, then applying a 50% seawater treatment at different stages of development. Effects noted included an increase in flowering and a depression of height and yield. The overall response was considered an ecophysiological adaptation to salt stress at the species level and, secondarily, a function of the respective habitat salinity.