Effects of light, scarification, and gibberellic acid on seed germination of eight Pedicularis species from Yunnan, China

Abstract

Seeds of most Pedicularis species do not germinate easily and uniformly, which hinders the process of seeking solutions for successful cultivation of these taxa. In an attempt to determine optimal conditions and effective methods for uniform, rapid, and high-percent germination, the effects of light, scarification, and gibberellic acid (GA3) were tested on seed germination of eight Pedicularis species from nine sites in the northwestern Yunnan Province of China. There were some differences in germination characteristics among the tested species. Seed germination of some species was promoted by light, but not in others. Wet-habitat species generally had positive photoblastic responses. For many species, scarification was effective to promote seed germination, but neither 100 nor 500 mg·L-1 GA3 had consistent promoting effects.