Abstract

Ferula jaeschkeana Vatke, an important medicinal plant of the Himalayan region, being threatened needs immediate conservation strategies. Keeping this in view studies on the germination of seeds and sprouting of vegetative propagules has been undertaken for the first time. At the time of dispersal, F. jaeschkeana seeds are dormant and have under-developed embryos. The aims of the present work were to determine the requirements for germination and overcoming dormancy and to characterize the type of seed dormancy. The seeds of F. jaeschkeana have deep complex morpho-physiological dormancy. Present study revealed that final germination percentage, mean daily germination, seed vigour index, germination index, germination rate and germination value were highest (53.3 %, 0.88, 3.67, 0.13, 0.88 and 1.02, respectively) when 200 ppm kinetin and dry stratification (60 days) were applied together. The decline in MGT up to 36.18 days and highest percentage survival (87.9 ± 7.08) were also observed in the same treatment. This treatment is thus recommended for promoting the germination process of F. jaeschkeana seeds. Maximum seed germination (62.0 ± 11.54 %) at 1 in. depth was found in seeds presoaked in kinetin (100 ppm) for 24 h in media of sand:soil (2:1). In case of root tuber cuttings, 500 ppm gibberellic acid showed significantly high sprouting (89.70 ± 0.78 and 69.14 ± 0.82 %, respectively) and rooting percentage (78.78 ± 1.13 and 55.56 ± 0.95 %, respectively) in case of both perennial and biennial plants. Likewise minimum time taken for sprouting was also observed in the same treatment in case of both perennial (10.0 ± 1 days) and biennial plants (11.33 ± 2.3 days).

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