Effects of different seed pretreatments on germination of ten Calligonum species

In order to determine the optimum seed pre??sowing treatments and patterns of germination,a greenhouse experiment was conducted to study the effects of abrasion,sulphuric acid,boiling water,cold stratification and seed exudate treatments on the germination of ten Calligonum species.The results showed that the response of seed germination to the different pretreatments was similar for all ten Calligonum species.The abrasion,sulphuric acid and cold stratification treatments significantly promoted overall germinability.Compared with the control,the exudate treatment significantly decreased the percent germination,hampered the rate of germination and bolstered dormancy for almost all species.The cold stratification treatment can break the dormancy of viable Calligonum seeds and increased the germination,but it has a little lethal effect on viable seeds probably as well as the boiling water treatments.The germinaton patterns performed significant difference between the pre-sowing treatments for all ten Calligonum species,and the speed and percent germination of the Calligonum species can be greatly increased by mechanical scarification or sulphuric acid treatments.The results showed that seeds of C.junceum have strong ability of germinating.