Germination of selected palm species in response to desiccation
2011
Uma Rani Sinniah, Universiti Putra Malaysia, 43400 Serdang, Selangor (Malaysia). Dept. of Crop Science | Sreeramanan Subramaniam, Universiti Sains Malaysia, Minden Heights, 11800, Penang (Malaysia). School of Biological Sciences
Palms are especially popular in tropical and subtropical areas for cultivation in streets, parks and gardens due to their beautiful architecture. Palms generally flower regularly each year and reproduce by seeds. Seeds, being small in size arguably the most convenient and practical part of the plant to store ex situ. In a study on seed storage characteristic of almost a hundred palms has shown that only a quarter of them can be stored under the conventional method namely dry and cold. This study looks into the effect of desiccation on viability and germination of two popular ornamental palms, Livistonia chinensis and Ptychosperma macarthurri seeds. Seeds were dehydrated to various moisture contents and subjected to germination. The two types of seeds used differed in their ability to germinate even in the fresh state. Seeds of Livistonia chinensis had more than 90% germination while seed of Ptychosperma macarthurri only had circa 50% germination. Seeds of Livistonia chinensis could be desiccated to a moisture content of 10% but were not viable. Those desiccated to 20% moisture content had 74% germination indicating that the seeds are relatively tolerant to desiccation. In contrast, seeds of Ptychosperma macarthurri could not be desiccated to lower than 25% moisture content. Seeds desiccated to 30% moisture content resulted in drastic loss in viability to 25%. Therefore, seeds of Ptychosperma macarthurri are sensitive to desiccation and cannot be stored even to short period of time. The study shows variation in seed storage behavior of two selected ornamental palm and suggest that for different palm species the level of tolerance has to be determined before a method to store can be established.
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