Dormancy and Sprouting Cycles of Wild Garlic

Abstract

Field studies of seasonal sprouting of wild garlic (Allium vineale L.) bulbs showed that all the soft offset, aerial, and central bulbs sprouted, but only 20 to 34% of the hardshell bulbs sprouted after a short after-ripening period. Each fall, a percentage of the remaining hardshell bulbs sprouted, but after 4 years 16% of the hardshell bulbs were still dormant. Embryonic shoots of all bulb types sprouted when excised following the after-ripening period. In addition to a short after-ripening period, hardshell bulbs had a prolonged dormancy due to some mechanism which resides in, or was controlled by, the tissue surrounding the embryonic shoot.